Quintessential
by Mephalas-Web
Summary: When the daughter of the stranger who saved Chris' life at Blackwood Pines appears at his front door one evening and demands answers, Chris is left speechless. When she tells him she's going back for Josh, he, Mike and Sam all agree to go back with her…but will it be the rescue mission they're hoping for, or will the unlikely team arrive there too late to save their friend?
1. Interrogation

**A/N: I love Until Dawn, but I really hated that regardless of what you did you couldn't save Josh, not really; sooo up popped the premise for this. I've written a couple of chapters but I'm not entirely settled on which way the story will go; there may be possible JoshXOC, there may not. Also I don't plan on this being super long, 15-20 chapters at max I think...I have checked this several times for spelling errors and such and I think I got 'em all but please feel free to point any out!**

 **I own no characters etc. from Until Dawn, the only two that are mine are Quinn and Stuart. _Enjoy..._**

* * *

 **Quintessential** ; _adjective_ :

 ** _Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class._**

With shaking hands Quinn gripped the newspaper tightly and re-read the headline for what felt like the thousandth time. _Blackwood Pines seven, safe and sound._ Underneath the huge bold print in smaller writing it read: _Joshua Washington still reported as missing on Blackwood Pines, the same spot his two sisters disappeared last year…_

"Quinn…you ok?" Her friend Stuart asked her tentatively. He'd been watching her in concern for the past five minutes as her face gradually darkened, like a thundercloud. "Quinn…"

"He's dead." She replied shortly, throwing her paper onto her kitchen table. Stuart was still none the wiser.

"Who's dead?" He took a seat opposite her and furrowed his brow. Quinn ran a hand through her long dark hair and looked away.

"Pops." Came her short reply.

"Wait…what?! How?" Stuart scrambled for a response as she sighed deeply.

"Says in here he died helping some kids save their friend up on Blackwood Pines." She scowled, "Some good it did, the guy's still missing." Silence filled the kitchen; Stuart didn't know what to say. Was he supposed to comfort his friend? Quinn and her father hadn't exactly had a normal father-daughter relationship; heck he'd shipped her off to boarding school just to keep her out of his way.

"Hey…Quinn…" A thought had suddenly occurred to him, "If the guy's still missing…and he's alive then won't he…" Stuart left the idea hanging in the air, but Quinn understood; she'd had a similar idea as soon as she'd read the article and her initial rage subsided.

"Be one of _them_? Well it's only been a week so not yet I don't think." Quinn frowned, "But…if he continues to live then it's only a matter of time." Stuart's mind was racing. "And…if the police find him in that state he'll get them. And without Pops up there to keep the other Wendigo's in check who knows what'll happen to the people nearby if they decide to roam…" Stuart was chewing his finger nails by this point; Quinn suddenly shot up from her chair, making him jump.

"What're you thinking?" He asked, regaining his composure and immediately recognising the look on her face. "You look like you have a plan…"

"You bet I do." She mumbled, leaving the room; Stuart followed.

"You're going to the mountain aren't you?" He asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Yepp, but first…" She peaked her head around her bedroom door, her eyes glittering, "I'm gonna have to take a little detour."

* * *

Chris sighed as he sank into the sofa in his small apartment, the past week had been…trying to say the least; police interview upon police interview, not to mention the loss of his best friend, had taken a lot out of him. In addition to that Ash had been ringing him every evening without fail, and while before that would have been a dream come true, now she was usually crying hysterically and it took him a good half an hour to calm her down.

It was nice to finally have some peace and quiet…

 _ **Knock-knock.**_

Chris' eyes shot open and he glared at his door in irritation.

 _ **Knock-knock.**_

Glancing at his clock he saw it was 10:30pm, who would be knocking at this time?

 _ **Knock-knock.**_

He sighed and got off his comfortable sofa to answer the door.

 _ **Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-**_

"Alright already I'm coming!" He shouted, "No need to be so impatient-!" As he opened the door he was forced backwards with such force he almost tripped over his coffee table. Two people entered; a tall, lanky blond male and a considerably shorter, dark haired female; he didn't recognise either of them. "Hey man, I've had a pretty rough week, honestly there's nothing here worth stea-!" The girl held up her hand to cut him off; her silvery grey eyes were threatening.

"We're not here to rob you; I just want to ask you a few questions." Her accent was British and her companion closed the door behind them. Chris looked back and forth between them, out of the two he got the impression the small woman was most definitely the one in charge.

"Questions…what kind of questions? What about?" He asked with a frown. She pointed to the sofa, presumably signalling for him to sit, however he stayed standing; she might have been be menacing but he was at least a head taller than her. Unfortunately when he didn't sit, she growled and made him.

"Hey Quinn, there's no need to be rude, okay?" The male objected; he gave Chris an oddly apologetic look, he too had a British accent. "Sorry about this, we've had a long flight and we're kind of on a tight schedule…"

"The 'stranger' from Blackwood Pines, what did he look like?" The female, 'Quinn', jumped straight in, ignoring what her companion had said.

"The stranger from…" Chris repeated what she had said in surprise, before regarding her cautiously, now on his guard. "What's it got to do with you?" Apparently that was the wrong answer. Quinn grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer; he absently noted the freckles sprinkled across her now scrunched nose.

"Look you…just answer me!" She hissed.

"Quinn, calm down!" The male detangled her hands from the front of Chris' shirt and gently pushed her back slightly, she shot him a dark look but he held her steely gaze with surprising ease, as if he was used to it. "We can't just force our way into a strangers' apartment and start interrogating him! He doesn't even know who we are, has no reason to co-operate with us." He reasoned; Chris was glad to see he was considerably more reasonable than his companion.

Quinn inhaled sharply in disapproval, "Fine. My name is Quinn, this is my friend Stuart. You're Chris, and if the stranger you described is who I think it is then he's my father." Chris gaped at her, he'd not been sure what to expect but it wasn't that, "So that's what it has to do with me." She added a little viciously.

"W-whoa…" He exhaled in surprise, "Shit…okay, he was about…6ft, kinda…grizzly looking. Grey hair, blind in one eye, oh and had a scar…" Almost as if the tension was the only thing keeping her standing, Quinn' shoulders suddenly drooped before she collapsed onto the sofa beside Chris; she sat hunched over with her head in her hands and Chris wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He glanced at Stuart, he was staring at Quinn sadly, but when he caught Chris' eye he gave him a small smile.

"I don't suppose you have any tea?" He inquired politely, Chris nodded and made a move to stand up but Stuart waved him away.

"Oh it's fine I'll make it! Would you like some?" Chris nodded mutely yet again and sat back down. The evening had taken a bizarre turn; he could say quite honestly he'd never been offered tea in his own apartment before. Stuart easily navigated the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with three hot mugs of tea. "There we go…Quinn, take this." He held the mug out to a shell-shocked looking Quinn and she numbly accepted it.

"Uh, thanks." Chris took his mug, and Stuart sat opposite the two in an armchair. "So…you're his daughter? That's a surprise…he didn't really seem the type that would have family…" He suddenly bit his tongue, he hadn't meant to sound so insensitive. To his surprise Quinn gave him a bittersweet smile.

"He wasn't." She told him, she sipped at her tea and closed her eyes, "I...I'm sorry." She looked at him uncomfortably, as if the words 'I'm sorry' were foreign to her. "I didn't mean to barge in here and rough you up I just…I needed to be certain." Chris found his ill-feeling towards her ebbing away as he regarded her tiny defeated form.

"It's…cool. No harm done…and he was your dad, can't say I blame you." He scratched the back of his head and saw Stuart was smiling at Quinn like he was a proud parent.

"Yeah well…I was still pretty rude. So, sorry." Her voice had gotten quieter and the awkwardness of her apology made Chris feel equally as awkward; a heavy silence settled over them, in which they all casually sipped at their tea.

"This guy who went missing…Joshua Washington?" Stuart suddenly broke the silence and Chris tensed little at Josh's name being mentioned, "He…well…" He didn't seem to know how to finish.

"Was he dead or alive last time you saw him?" Quinn asked bluntly, Chris choked on his tea and Stuart gave her a very disapproving look.

"Well…I wasn't the last person to see him, but I'm pretty sure he was alive." Chris managed to eventually choke out, both his British 'guests' exchanged a look and frowned.

"I guess we have to go then?" Stuart asked; Quinn nodded.

"We don't really have a choice." She replied, she finished drinking her tea and stood, "Well thank you Chris for the information…and the tea, we'll take our leave." She made her way over to the door and Stuart hastily finished his own cup so he could follow.

"H-hey wait! Why did you want to know if Josh was alive? Where are you going?" Chris sprang to his feet and quickly followed them; Stuart opened his mouth to reply but was silenced by one fierce look from Quinn. Chris' eyes widened as he realised, "You…you're going to Blackwood Pines aren't you?" He half asked, half demanded.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, "You do catch on quick, don't you?" She drawled, "Yes we're going there." Suddenly her eyes light up maliciously, "What's it got to do with you?" Chris groaned as his earlier question was used against him.

"Look…Josh was… _is_ my friend, if you're going back to save him…then I want to come with you!" His declaration was left hanging in the air; Quinn snorted and then started laughing leaving Chris stood there gradually turning a deeper shade of red with every giggle that left her lips.

"C'mon Stuart." She patted her friend on the shoulder and they carried on leaving.

"W-wait! I'm being serious I want to come!" They stopped and Quinn turned to him with the same terrifying look on her face she'd given him earlier, but he stood his ground. "Josh was my _best friend_ okay? The fact we basically abandoned him…I just…man…" It had sounded much better in his head.

"Quinn…" Stuart said her name in that same reasonable, even tone he'd used before, as if he was trying to pacify a small child.

"Oh _fine_!" She cried in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. "You can come, but if you die it's on you." Chris' grinned stupidly, her ominous words bouncing off him. "I'll have to get you a gun…" She murmured thoughtfully. Chris suddenly stopped grinning, as if he realised what he'd so eagerly agreed to. "What's the matter blondey?" She asked him with a malicious grin, "Reality kicking in?" Chris stubbornly stuck his chin out and shook his head.

"No!" He declared, falling into step with her, "I was just thinking…I know some others who'd want to come with us. To help." Quinn looked at him curiously.

"Is that so?"

"Yepp. Definitely." He hoped.

* * *

"Chris have you _lost your damn mind_?!" Mike asked him seriously. Quinn had sent Stuart back to their hotel to pack and Chris had texted Mike, Sam and Ash asking to meet up at a nearby internet café that was luckily open at 11pm; upon arrival, and after some very curious glances in Quinn direction, Chris had explained to everyone who she was and what was going on. He had thought these three would be the only ones willing to go back with him. Questioning Chris' sanity had been Mike's first port of call, and the others seemed to feel similarly.

"Chris…Chris you _can't go back_!" Ash cried, "We barely got away, you can't go back, _you can't_!" She was working herself up into 'hysterical mode'.

"Chris…I miss Josh too, but we don't even know if he's alive." Sam's voice was a lot gentler than the other two, but she didn't seem up for it either.

"But…last time Mike saw him he **was**! Wendigo-Hannah recognised him and dragged him off! If she was going to kill him, she would have then and there." Chris reasoned desperately. Mike and Sam looked uncertain, but Ash remained completely unmoved.

"No, it doesn't matter. He…he _betrayed us_ , the _sick_ games he played with us! After all that you still want to go back and rescue him? _You could die Chris._ " She grabbed his hand from across the table and looking into his eyes pleadingly.

"Look…what he did was wrong, I'm not denying that." He sighed, "But he was my best friend for years Ash! Plus he was off his meds, it wasn't entirely his fault." Ash let go of Chris' hands, "And…if he's still alive down there I can't just do nothing. I _won't_ abandon him to the same fate as Hannah _or_ Beth." Chris finished with a determined look on his face and Ash looked away.

"I'm not going back." Ash told him, shaking her head, "I won't do it."

Quinn watched the conversation with rapidly dwindling interest, her silvery gaze sizing up each person round the table. She was mildly relieved when Ash said she wouldn't go; Quinn knew the watery-eyed red head wouldn't last five minutes back there. The other two looked torn.

"I…okay, I'm in too." Sam told him, Mike looked at her incredulously and Chris grinned in triumph. "I know it's crazy Mike but Chris is right. If he is alive he's in danger of either dying like Beth or…turning…like Hannah." She looked down sadly and Chris turned to Mike.

"Well _fuck it all_ , I'm in." He cried in exasperation, throwing his arms up in a way very reminiscent of Quinn's earlier display. "If I die down there I'm gonna haunt the shit out of both 'o you." Quinn clapped her hands together loudly, making them all jump, as if they'd forgotten she was there.

"Well isn't this _wonderful_. Now that we've got that sorted I've got a question for you all." They looked at her in interest, "How are you with a gun?"

"I'm a pretty decent shot." Mike replied fairly.

"I'm…okay." Chris shrugged. Quinn's gaze settled on Sam who looked a little uncomfortable.

"I…can climb pretty well!" Quinn made a mildly disgusted noise and rubbed her temples, it had been a very long night and with the haphazard group assembled in front of her she was fairly certain they'd be lucky if _they_ made it out alive, never mind Joshua Washington.

" _Fan-fucking-tastic._ "


	2. Return

**A/N: Hey! So, I was going to wait a little longer to upload this but I had it all written and rigorously checked so I thought why the hell not. Thanks for the favs & follows and the comment (DarkDust I'm looking at you, the rescue is most certainly a-go!). Here we go, chapter 2.**

 **I own no characters etc. from Until Dawn, the only two that are mine are Quinn and Stuart.**

* * *

At the base of the snow-covered trail, Quinn's booted foot tapping the floor impatiently was the only thing that could be heard in the otherwise serene environment; it was fairly early in the morning and she was a little twitchy and incredibly impatient. "Wish they'd all hurry up so we can get started on hunting down the Washington kid." She grunted, Stuart smiled at her.

"Who're you calling 'kid'? He's older than you." He gently tapped her on top of her head with his gloved fist. "And _please_ stop using the word 'hunt', you'll freak the others out. We're here to find him, not hunt him down like some kind of rabid animal." Stuart chided.

"It's not as if they're here." She huffed, taking a seat on one of the duffel bags they'd brought. At last in the distance she saw a lone coach driving up, "Finally…" Her eyes glittered in anticipation, and sure enough it stopped nearby and the three adolescents got off. First Chris, looking a little uncertain but determined and then Sam and Mike, looking equally miserable about being back.

"Never thought I'd see this again…" Mike mumbled squinting up at the mountainous forest.

"Nice of you to finally show up, I was starting to think you wouldn't be coming." Quinn said as she stood up and dusted off her combat pants. The weather was fairly pleasant, even though snow still covered pretty much everything in sight; as such Quinn had opted for a black turtle neck and body warmer, coupled with easy to move in khaki combat pants and knee high docs for grip. She also wore a pair of thermal gloves and a woolly hat to prevent her body heat from escaping.

"Sorry, we were a little delayed." Chris replied apologetically.

"You can say that again, Jess almost throttled me when I told her I was coming back here." Mike informed them, "She said if I don't make it back she'll kill me…and then you." He turned to Quinn and she smirked a little at him.

"Well then, I better get you all back alive hadn't I?" Mike smiled back at her, and nodded to the bag, "What's in the bag? Guns?" She nodded and unzipped it to give them a brief look.

"Mainly, some other supplies too…I want this to be over as quickly as possible but we don't know how long we'll be up there." The three of them stood there in shock.

"How did you _get_ all these?!" Chris asked in awe. Quinn gave him a mysterious little smile and shrugged.

"I know a guy." She picked up a sawn-off shotgun from her bag and zipped it back up. "Shall we go?"

"Hey why can't we have one?" Mike protested.

"I'll give you one once we're actually up there, I don't want you freaking out at every other sound and shooting the wildlife." Chris noted she actually looked pretty amused, evidently she was in higher spirits than when she'd invaded his apartment. "The Algonquian's take that shit really seriously you know." She started off up the trail and Chris and Mike looked after her confused.

"Al…gonquian?" Chris repeated.

"They're a native American tribe…right?" Sam looked to Stuart for clarification and he nodded.

"Yeah, Quinn's relatives stem from those tribes…well, on her dad's side anyway." Stuart picked up the other bag and allowed the others to go before setting off up the trail behind them. "Her mother was an English archaeologist, she was up here looking for artefacts…that how her parents met." He told them all in a low voice, so Quinn wouldn't overhear.

"Now it makes a little more sense…" Chris said nodding his head, "Where's her mom then?" Stuart paused.

"She died when Quinn was 10." Chris shut his mouth and cursed his insensitivity yet again. Suddenly Stuart was hit in the face with a snowball.

"Hey-!" He looked up and Quinn was staring at him with her arms folded and an irritated look on her face.

"Are you just gonna keep gossiping about me behind by back like an old woman? Or are you gonna get a move on?" She inquired, raising an eyebrow. Chris looked up at her a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry or…bring up anything unpleasant." She snorted.

"It's been eight years, I'm not gonna break down over it now." She waved him off and carried on walking, Chris glanced at Stuart who was still wiping the snow off his face.

"Has she always been like that?" He murmured, walking beside the slightly taller blond.

"Yeah, pretty much. I met her at boarding school, by then her mum had already… _passed on_ , and her dad had sent her there so he could carry on doing whatever he was doing on this mountain." Stuart gazed after her fondly, "She's a little icy but once she gets to know you she's loyal to a fault, we've been friends since we were 12." Chris smiled a little, he recognised the look on Stuarts face all too well; he was fairly certain it used to be exactly how he looked at Ash. Stuart clearly had a thing for his 'friend'…though whether or not she had a clue he couldn't be certain.

Meanwhile Mike had caught up to Quinn, "Hey so…what's Quinn short for anyway?" He asked conversationally; she didn't bother to answer him. "Quinn…Quincy? Quentin?" Still no response. "Quinoa?" He saw her lips twitch, "Quinine?" She snorted again, but this time it was in place of a laugh.

"Quinzel. My name's Willow Quinzel, but I go by Quinn." She finally told him begrudgingly.

"Quinzel? Like…Harleen Quinzel?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Minus the Harleen, because y'know…my names Willow." She glanced across at him, "You?"

"Nothing as fancy, just plain old Michael Munroe." The gate they'd all encountered the previous week that had been 'broken' was now open, and police tape was draped across it.

"Right, I shouldn't need to say this but just in case: the police cannot see us, seriously. Unless we're emerging victorious from the mines with Joshua Washington, if the police catch you you're on your own, got it?" Chris saluted her.

"Yessir'…m'am?" Quinn rolled her eyes.

"We'll be careful." Sam told her with a smile, "We probably want him back even more than you." Sam suddenly looked at her curiously. "Why do you want him back so badly? Most people wouldn't go this far for someone they don't even know." A frown pulled at the corner of Quinn's mouth.

"You met my pops right? I'm not 'most people'." She spied the cable car station just ahead, and was pleased to see there were no police stationed there. "Well they're doing a fantastic job keeping this place off-limits." She muttered.

"Yeah I get that but still…you must have a reason, right?" Sam persisted, Quinn looked uncomfortable.

"Well yeah I…" She sighed and looked at Sam properly. "I read that my pops died because he went with blondey over there to save this Joshua." She nodded towards Chris and looked down a little, "I guess…I didn't want that sacrifice to be in vain." Quinn ended with a little shrug and Sam saw she was blushing slightly. Was Quinn…embarrassed? She started talking again before Sam could ask her anymore mortifying questions, "Guys, luckily for us the cable car station seems deserted, we should be able to make it up easily enough." She stopped and let the others catch up.

"What was the plan if the police _were_ here?" Chris asked out of interest. Quinn grinned at him.

"Well, we'd still make it up. Just not easily enough." The look on her face was starting to take a menacing turn again and Chris let it drop; he was glad she was on their side. "Once we get up there I'll get my bearings and try track the quickest way to the mines, it's been a while since I've been up here…once we get there I'll dish out the guns." They made their way into the station and waited for the car to come back to their side. Once in the car they took their seats; Sam removed a can of deodorant from her coat pockets earning her a very odd glance from Quinn. "Y'know…now isn't the time to be worrying about how you smell. I don't think the Wendigo's will care either."

Sam grinned at her, "Firstly it's guys deodorant, secondly…" she rooted around in her other pocket and removed a lighter, "I wasn't planning on using it to make anything smell better." Quinn pieced two and two together and actually gave Sam and approving smile.

"That's…actually a really good idea, good thinking." Sam couldn't help but feel pleased.

"You said you've been up here before?" She asked Quinn, perhaps it'd be easier to get information out of their mysterious guide while she was in her good books. Quinn nodded.

"When my mum died, I was sent to live with pops; he sent me away to boarding school back in England as soon as he could but I still spent the summer holidays up here with him." She smiled a little as she reminisced, "He taught me all about this stuff, he taught me how to fight…climb, everything." Suddenly she stopped smiling. "Guess I'll get to put it to use at last." Once they'd reached the top of the mountain, Quinn took in their surroundings. "We need to be quiet from here on out guys, you never know where the police might be…though from the looks of things they don't seem to be here." She frowned. Sam felt her stomach drop a little, she hoped the police were simply looking in another area and that they weren't…Wendigo food. "You ok?" Quinn asked her with a squint.

"Yeah…yeah…" She felt guilty, after all she was the one who told them to go into the mines. "It's just…well _I_ told the police to search the mines. What if they're dead because of me?" She bit her lip.

"Searching the mines is a risky business, no doubt about it." Quinn replied, Sam felt her shoulders hunch and the brunette suddenly patted her on the shoulder, "It's not your fault Sam. If they didn't look down there they'd stand no chance finding Joshua…or believing any part of your story." Sam looked at Quinn, was she trying to comfort her? "Anyway, it's this way." She beckoned everyone over and off they all set again, this time being extra vigilant for police as well as mythological creatures.

"Quinn, we're probably gonna have to split up once we're down there you know." Stuart mumbled to her, she bit her lip and nodded.

"Yeah…I know." She knew she'd lead one team and Stuart the other…but she didn't want him to. Sure he knew more about the threat than any of them, but he wasn't trained like her; he wasn't a fighter…a hunter. "Mike, Chris…" She addressed them both, "You'll go with Stuart, since you two are the best shots." She turned to Sam and grinned, "Sammy, since you're about as useful with a gun as a little bunny rabbit, you'll be with me." Stuart opened up his duffle bag and pulled out two walkie-talkies.

"Catch." He tossed one to Sam, who just about caught it.

"I'm in charge of it?" She asked surprised.

"Well I'm in charge of the gun, I'm pretty good Sam but I can't do everything." Quinn told her, Sam resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Fair enough…"

"Hey, do we have to split up?" Chris asked her and Stuart.

"Honestly, I'd rather we didn't…" Quinn started with a frowned.

"But if we don't, looking down there is going to take a hell of a lot longer." Stuart finished. Quinn's obvious discomfort at them splitting up did nothing to settle Chris' nerves, it was odd, he'd not even know her a day but he trusted her. He trusted that she knew what she was doing, and that she'd be true to her word and find Josh…though what state she'd find him in would remain to be seen.

* * *

They were gone.

The horrifying apparitions of Hannah and Beth's rotting, but seemingly alive corpses, were gone.

At first Josh was happy about it…he was at peace finally. Wendigo Hannah had not come back for him either…it had been such a long time he wasn't sure she _was_ coming back.

Was anyone coming back for him?

He was so hungry…

"Oh Joshua…" Dr. Hill circled him, the small heels on his shoes clicking on the rocky floor as he walked. Josh had always hated those shoes, and he kept his eyes firmly shut; if he couldn't see him, he'd go away. "After what you did to them…what you put your friends through, do you honestly think they'd come back for a worthless monster like you?" His tone was reasonable, even calm, but Josh shook his head desperately.

"No-no. No, they'll come, they wouldn't abandon me." He said it as firmly as he could, but wavered under Dr. Hill's cold, clinical gaze. His eyes may have been shut but he knew the look all too well.

"Like you abandoned your sisters?" Josh started shaking, "You're a fool Joshua. Scum. _Psycho_."

"SHUT UP!" He shouted, "Leave me alone, please just leave me alone."

" _Oh but you are alone Joshua, just look around you…you're all alone."_

Josh finally opened his eyes. "A-all…alone…" He was by himself after all. No one was coming for him, no ones. His stomach twisted in knots as he wrapped his arms around himself and rocked backwards and forwards. No one was coming…and hunger was gnawing at his insides.

No one was coming but…

But he was so hungry.


	3. Darkness

**A/N: Instalment number 3, think I'll try aim for 2-3 uploads a week...which means I'm ok for now, until I catch up to where I've written. Reviews would be greatly appreciated :***

 ***Insert the usual disclaimer nonsense here ***

* * *

They were stood before the entrance to the mines, taking in the impenetrable darkness that stretched out before them with apprehension. "It's…dark." Chris commented, breaking silence. Of course, Chris had never been into the mines, last time he'd been close but he'd never had to truly venture in them like Sam and Mike had.

"That it is, though the darkness is the least of our problems." Quinn replied casually; Chris looked at her nervously. She dropped onto one knee and unzipped the bags, as promised she handed out guns and ammo to each of them, as well as headbands with light strapped to the front, "Easier to climb without a flashlight in your hand." She explained, "We'll stick together until the path diverges, try not to use the walkie-talkie too much – silence is your friend down there." Quinn looked directly at Chris when she said that. From the bag Stuart had been carrying she removed what appeared to be a make-shift flame thrower.

"Hey don't we get one of those?" Mike asked, eyeing it excitedly.

"You're joking right?" She scoffed, "Like I'd trust any of you with a god damn flamethrower." She placed her shotgun in the holster round her waist and quickly tied her hair into a long braid to keep it out of her way. "Well then, shall we?" She gave them a grin and they all made their way into the mines. Quinn would be lying if she said she wasn't a little excited, she had been training for a situation such as this for a good part of her life and to finally be out here without parental supervision was oddly liberating. The only thing she was worried about was her companions, mainly Stuart truth be told; at least Mike and Chris has handled guns before, they'd both had to shoot at moving Wendigo's before and lived to tell the tale. Stuart's knowledge however was purely theoretical, he knew how to kill them, contain them, weaken them and capture them; he knew what hurt them and what didn't and he knew how they came to be – but he'd still never even seen one. They were walking for a few minutes when they hit the first hurdle.

"Looks like we've hit a fork already." Sam's quiet voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she saw that the blonde was correct, the mines forked out to the left and to the right before them. "I guess this bye for now." Sam looked at her two friends.

"Yeah…see you on the other side." Chris joked lamely. Quinn grabbed Stuarts sleeve and looked up at him earnestly before they moved off.

"Be careful, leave the shooting to these guys and Stay sharp; if you find Washington get in contact straight away, okay?" She ordered, Stuart gave her a half smile.

"Oh stop Quinn you're making me blush." She punched him in the arm. "Okay, okay I got it, I'll be _super_ careful." She nodded and turned to the others.

"You two…try not to die will you?" Quinn said to Mike and Chris.

"Not heartfelt warning for us? I'm crushed." Chris replied clutching at his chest dramatically; Mike hit him upside the head.

"Right back at ya'. Stay safe Sam." With that final farewell the group split up and took on the task of searching the humongous mines for any sign of Josh Washington. The group of men took the tunnel to the right, leaving Sam and Quinn to take the left.

"Well then Sammy, let's get going." She murmured, Sam nodded and set off with Quinn, the pair staying as quiet as possible. The last time Sam had found herself here she was driven out of necessity, they'd gone after Mike and she was the only one athletic enough to make it through; back then adrenaline had been coursing through her, keeping both her fear and the cold at bay. This time, she had _chosen_ to come; the darkness and cold both clung to her as she stumbled along, finding it increasingly difficult to keep her worry supressed. "You doing ok?" Quinn's soft voice asked. Sam nodded, the light emitting from her headband shaking up and down.

"I just can't believe I chose to come back here." She whispered in disbelief.

There was a brief pause, "What is Joshua Washington to you?" Quinn suddenly asked her; Sam stopped in her tracks for a moment.

"He's my friend…?" She trailed off uncertainly.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Quinn asked with a small smile; Sam sighed.

"Well….before all this happened, his sister – the one who became…" She took a deep breath and Quinn didn't press her, she knew what she meant, "She was my best friend." Her voice was soft and sad, "And Josh would…talk to me - about everything that happened and how he was feeling and…he told me I was the only one who understood." Sam smiled a little bitterly at the memory, "I thought we had a connection."

"And now?" Quinn asked, Sam shook her head.

"Now I don't know what to think." She sighed, "You know what he did to us right?" Quinn knew they shouldn't really be talking so much, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"The paper mentioned it a little…but no, not really." The story printed in the paper had lacked a lot of detail, for obvious reasons; Sam took a deep breath.

"He…well he called it a 'prank', but it was more like mental torture. He dressed up as…this psychopath in a mask, made us think Josh was dead – made Chris chose to save either his life or Ash's…he chased me through the house and knocked me out. I woke up tied to a chair." Quinn would have whistled, if she hadn't been trying to remain quiet. "I _know_ he was off his medication but…he still did it, you know? He filmed it all too, our reactions. Threatened to upload it online, said he was going to make us famous." She laughed humourlessly, "Well, we're famous now. But not because of some stupid video." After what she'd just been told, Quinn was surprised they'd agreed to come back.

"Yet…here you are." She said with a smile, Sam smiled back.

"Here I am…" Sam agreed, "Chris is right, if we have a chance to save him we should. I don't want him to end up like Hannah." Quinn nodded and silence settled back over them, though it was a little more comfortable than before. Sam knew Quinn's reasons for being there, and now Quinn understood the situation a little better…she understood Sam a little better. "Josh never actually did anything to Mike, his girlfriend Jess was taken by a Wendigo. He probably still feels guilty about what happened to Hannah, that's why he came." Sam added as an afterthought.

"What did happen to Hannah?" Quinn asked, "I know she left the lodge and fell, my pops told me that much but…why were she and he sister running from the lodge in the middle of a snow storm?" She'd never understood what could drive a person to do that.

"A stupid prank." Sam replied bitterly, "We all made her look ridiculous and she ran away, trying to escape. Beth went after her…"

"A prank huh? Is that why Joshua took revenge in the form of a 'prank'?" Quinn asked, fixing the pieces together again, Sam nodded.

"Must have been…yeah." She rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling colder than she had before.

Quinn couldn't help but feel bad for them, they had ridiculously bad luck; they managed to leave unscathed the first time – but lost two of their friends – only to be forced to return and lose another. But, even after all that, here they were _yet again_ trying to make things right; it was oddly admirable. Or stupid, either worked. There was one thing about _this time_ however that was bothering Quinn: everything had gone so smoothly. Too smoothly, in her opinion. Where were all the police that were supposed to be up here investigating? She had been prepared to use brute force to get through if necessary, but no, nothing; not a police officer in sight.

Suddenly a strange scream-like howl echoed from somewhere very nearby; the two women froze. Quinn's hand slowly made its way to her holster and she placed her hand on the butt of the gun while her eyes scanned the chamber they were in for any signs of movement. Nothing…but it was close. "Be really careful Sam, have that deodorant ready." She would have laughed at the ridiculousness of what she'd just said, had they not been in such a tense situation. Sam removed the can of deodorant from her pocked, and got her lighter ready, both of them were prepared. They moved along very slowly, Sam could hear her heart pounding in her chest and she desperately hoped no one else could; Quinn was calmer than her companion, but her heart was also beating uncomfortably fast.

It was then she saw it, on the ceiling and staring in their general direction with blank, unfeeling eyes, she felt Sam take a step back from beside her and unfortunately she wasn't the only one who noticed…

The Wendigo's gaze fell directly on Sam, and with a bestial cry, it leapt forward.

 _ **BANG.**_

* * *

Chris paused, "D-did you guys hear that?" He asked them warily, he was certain he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a gunshot. Mike and Stuart both nodded.

"Sure did…" Mike replied. "Should we…" He nodded back the way they came and Stuart shook his head.

"That gunshot was Quinn handling the situation, we knew this might happen when we split up." Stuart told them, seeing their faces he smiled a little, "Don't worry about Sam took much, she's with Quinn." He turned back to look down the tunnel, "She's probably safer than you are right now."

"Well that's comforting." Chris laughed a little nervously. "Aren't you worried about Quinn?" He asked Stuart. Stuart laughed quietly.

"You've met Quinn right? She doesn't need anyone worrying about her."

"True…but that doesn't mean you won't, right?" Chris noted that Stuart had neatly avoided the question. Stuart looked over his shoulder at the other blond and gave him a half smile.

"Okay, maybe a little. She's pretty fast, agile, a perfect shot…she's basically the quintessential hunter, but she's also terribly reckless. Especially if she gets annoyed." Stuart sighed, "But she'll keep Sam safe, I am sure of that."

 _ **BANG.**_

Chris jumped as the sound of a second shot echoed eerily through the mines. "Yeah well, let's hope there aren't many more…" Mike said, looking around warily, "Quite a few died when we were last up here but god knows how many there were."

"You said your friend who became a Wendigo – Hannah – recognised Josh as her brother?" Stuart asked in a whisper, Mike nodded.

"Sure seemed like it, why else wouldn't she have killed him?" Stuart frowned, in all his research he'd never come across a fully turned Wendigo retaining any part of their previous humanity, once the spirits took over they were in control. Perhaps…if a Wendigo did retain part of its humanity then the process could be reversed? The spirits driven from them body and soul until all that was left was the person they used to be? But then surely that person would be trapped in a big, creepy Wendigo shell. No one in their right mind would want that.

" _No, no, no, go away…"_ They all paused. _"Leave me alone!"_

"You guys are hearing that right? It sounds like Josh!" Chris whispered excitedly, he was about to rush forward in the direction the voice came from when Mike grabbed him.

"Hold on, Wendigo's mimic right?" Mike asked Stuart, he nodded.

"They can mimic their prey in order to lure in other prey." Stuart agreed.

"It could be a trap." Mike frowned, Chris shrugged his hand off.

"Or it could be my best friend in need of our help!" He argued. They both turned to Stuart for a decision on how they should proceed.

"It's our only lead so far. We'll check it out but just be vigilant, in case it is a trap." Stuart decided at last, it was just as likely to be Josh as a Wendigo. If a lot of them had died the previous week it would certain give the young Washington a greater chance of survival. They three cautiously made their way over to the source of the noise, being very careful to make no noise themselves.

"This doesn't feel right." Mike growled. There was no sign of Josh anywhere, the tunnel just seemed to lead to an ever deeper level of darkness, leading them further and further to the left.

" _They'll come for me, they wouldn't abandon me!"_ They all froze; this time Josh's voice had clearly come from somewhere behind them, from the direction they had just come.

"There's no way he's behind us right?" Mike asked quietly through gritted teeth.

"Not a chance." Stuart replied in a breathy voice.

* * *

The hunger was almost unbearable.

Josh didn't know how long he'd been stuck in this cold, dark, damp hell but he needed it to end. The pain, the fear, the visions. It was all too much. What had he ever done to deserve this?

" _You let your sisters die."_ Ah, of course, that was it. This was his punishment, his very own personal hell tailored just for him to drown in his sins. For all he knew he could very well be dead…and if he was dead that meant he'd never escape, his existence from now on would be shrouded in darkness and misery and an unholy hunger.

An unholy desire for sustenance…for something wonderfully fleshy and satisfying.

Wait…fleshy?

Josh shook his head, no, no not fleshy. Nothing fleshy.

Because that would just be plain _wrong_.

But…on the other hand…if he was already dead then would it be so wrong? Surely something so despicable would be more than acceptable within the deepest depths of hell he was clearly in. Surely something so perverse was part of the plan; either he gave in to hunger and lost any sense of dignity he had left, or he continued to starve and let the hunger gnaw at his insides as if he were being eaten from the inside-out.

Well…he didn't really have much that dignity left anyway.


	4. Monsters

**A/N: Hello! I hope everyone's enjoying it so far, this is a little shorter than the others but I kind of had to end it where I did...you'll understand ;)**

 **Thanks for the reviews, AllThingWeird35 - I'm glad you like her!**

* * *

Almost without thinking, Quinn took her shot; she got her mark, the Wendigo was hit square in the chest and knocked back a good few feet. Sam breathed out a sigh of relief, but it wasn't over, it turned back on them and charged again, this time at Quinn; Quinn barely had time to duck and roll to move out of its path. She quickly reloaded her shotgun and took aim again, this time aiming for its head, or more specifically its left eye.

It charged – she fired.

 _ **BANG.**_

The gunshot was drowned out by the screaming howl the Wendigo let out; out of frustration perhaps? She knew it couldn't be in pain, these creatures didn't feel pain. When it turned to charge again Sam was ready, she used her deodorant and lighter to catch it as it leapt at Quinn and it staggered to the side, its body partially on fire. Quinn took her chance, she grabbed the end of her own home made flame thrower and moved close enough to attack; she knew her father wouldn't approve, he'd always stressed how they should be contained if possible, and not killed.

"Sorry pops." She doused the creature in fire. The spirit eventually broke forth from the shell of the Wendigo and flew past them screaming as it went, "Creepy fucker." Quinn shivered, she wiped a little sweat from her brow.

"Thanks." Sam let out a sigh of relief.

"No problem, that's what I'm here for…just try not to move next time. That deodorant came in handy though huh?" She grinned.

"I know, I know sorry; it was just the shock of being confronted by it again…and yeah I suppose it did…" Sam let out a shaky laugh. The fiery remains of the corpse lit up the room fairly well and the women saw there were several diverging paths again. "Oh man, which do we pick?" Sam bit her lip and looked at Quinn. Quinn sighed, she moved towards each tunnel, examining them as carefully as she could in the darkness, trying to pick up any clues, any sign of where they should go…

" _Hell…s-so hungry…"_ She paused, well that was mightily convenient. One look at Sam's face told her that was Josh's voice. Or was it?

"I guess we'll go down this one." She sighed.

"Mimicking?" Sam asked, she shrugged.

"Could be, but what else can we do?" They took the tunnel to their right. Quinn stayed ahead and made sure she was protecting Sam from the front, if anything came at them she'd bear the brunt of it. Out of the corner of her eyes Quinn could see shapes, still, humanoid shapes and upon turning towards them she suddenly understood the lack of police. The mutilated dead corpses of three officers were strewn around tunnel, she held her hand over her nose and mouth and glanced at Sam from the corner of her eye; she looked pale. "C'mon Sammy…" Quinn tugged gently at the blondes sleeve and pulled her away from the grizzly scene and back towards the distant voice of Joshua Washington. The voice gradually got louder the further down the tunnel they ventured…it also seemed to get a little brighter as well.

" _Just…one bite. One little bite…"_ Quinn quickened her pace, if that was Josh she clearly needed to get to him fast. The tunnel ended and they were in a fairly well-lit cavern; looking up at the end of the area there was a vast hole in the ceiling, letting in natural light…and under that natural light there stood a figure with its back to them – a human figure.

"J-Josh!" Sam called out to him instinctively and made her way over, he didn't turn around though. Quinn chewed her lip nervously and followed Sam, keeping a close eye on their surroundings since the blonde seemed to have temporarily given leave to her senses. "Joshua!" Once Sam was close enough she put a hand on Josh's shoulder. Josh's entire frame seized up and he turned with surprising speed and grabbed Sam's wrist.

" _Flesh…!"_ Sam cried out in horror and tried to rip her wrist from his grip but he held it like a vice, luckily Quinn was faster. From inside her body-warmer she pulled out a handgun and pressed the barrel directly between Josh's eyes.

"Hey! I really don't want to use this Joshua, but so help me I will." Her voice cracked through the dark like a whip, and his eyes fell on her, though he still kept a tight grip on Sam. "Let her go, humans are friends, not food." He didn't, so she cocked the gun and looked him straight in the eye. "Let. Her. Go."

* * *

Josh had decided, he needed to find it.

The thing he craved, the one thing he wanted above all else.

Maybe it would end this hell. It wouldn't end the torment, he was fairly certain nothing would end that, but perhaps it'd sate this unbearable hunger; the hunger that was pain beyond anything he'd ever felt. He got to his feet and stared absently at the cavern wall before him; there were such odd drawings on the wall…and was that a skull? Josh suddenly shook his head, never mind that, he needed to concentrate, he needed something, he needed _it_ …but where would he get it?

"J-Josh!" That was his name…someone was calling his name? He heard hurried footsteps behind him, "Joshua!" There was a warm hand on his shoulder…a warm _fleshy_ hand. He spun around and grabbed the arm of the hand that had touched him, revelling in the glorious sound of the heartbeat attached to it.

"Flesh…!" He would have bitten into the arm, he desperately wanted too, but before he could he felt something cold pressed against his brow. Black, metal; a gun?

"Hey! I really don't want to use this Joshua, but so help me I will." Someone else who knew his name, he let his gaze wander from the barrel of the gun, to the arm of the one holding it and finally to their face. It was a girl; and she was beautiful. She stood before him with a truly fierce expression on her face, completely bathed in a white halo of light…an angel? But why was there an angel in hell? "Let her go, humans are friends, not food." The angel snarled at him and cocked her gun, "Let. Her. Go." Humans… _humans are friends not food?_

Was that true? Josh tore his gaze away from the dark haired angel and instead looked at the owner of the fleshy hand he still held…another woman. Her hair was fair, and her eyes were pale and clear…and very afraid; he could see she was scared of him. "Josh…" She said his name again, why did she sound so familiar?

"You have till the count of three to let Sam go Joshua." Sam? Sam…Sam!

"Sam…" As soon as the words left his lips he let go. How could he not recognise Sam? How far had he fallen? "Sam…I-I'm so sorry." He choked on the words and stumbled back, Sam's face eased up considerably.

"You recognise me now?" Her voice was soft, gentle and he nodded numbly. Wait…if Sam was here then…he was alive? This was all real? Questions swirled round his head, the reality of the situation sinking in. This was real. He was still in the mines. He had almost eaten Sam. Man, Dr Hill was right, he really _was_ a monster.

"You came for me." His voice was hoarse and disbelieving. But Sam nodded, smiling at him tentatively. After everything he'd done, everything he'd been _about_ to do she still had a smile for him. Looking to the side he saw the 'angel' from before was still pointing a gun at him…he watched her in mild curiosity. He certainly didn't recognise her, she was shorter than him with long dark hair, tanned skin and a level yet piecing gaze. And the way she was looking at him was unsettling.

"Of course we did Josh!" Sam apprehensively put her hand on his shoulder again, Josh slumped slightly and she cautiously pulled him into a hug. A hug he couldn't quite bring himself to return. "This is Quinn by the way, she helped us find you. We're gonna get you out of here." Sam pulled away and introduced the tiny, guarded brunette.

"Hello." He said lamely, what else could he say? It was true he had a lot of questions but nothing in his head was coherent enough to string into a sentence yet.

" _Pleasure."_ She drawled back sarcastically, however she did stop pointing her gun at him. "Looks like we got here just in time." She was eyeing Josh critically and he didn't like it. "He's in pretty bad shape, we need to find the others and get out of here." Sam nodded in agreement. 'Others'? What 'others'? He wanted to ask, but he couldn't find the words. Quinn reached forward and took a walkie-talkie from Sam's coat pocket, "Stuart, we've found Washington. Over." She spoke into the mouthpiece and waiting for a reply, but none came. After a long stretch of silence she tried again. "Stuart-!"

Quinn was cut off by screams from nearby, Josh jumped and all three of them looked towards the source of the screaming. He watched as Quinn replaced her handgun with a shot gun and crouched in front of himself and Sam with it aimed at the darkness. Who was this girl?

* * *

The screams she heard were definitely male screams, there was no doubt about it. Quinn crouched and watched the darkness carefully for any signs of movement.

"SHIT!" Chris came hurtling from the darkness and stumbled towards them all, "J-Josh?! Sam! Quinn!" Quinn stilled her trigger finger with an aggravated sigh and quickly motioned for him to get behind her; he didn't need telling twice. Chris moved behind them, hugging Josh briefly.

"Fuck me!" Mike was the second one to burst forth from the darkness, he too took one look at their formation and quickly joined Quinn up front with his shotgun ready. Now all she was waiting for was Stuart…

"What happened?!" She hissed at Mike. "Where's Stuart?"

"We thought we heard Josh. Turns out we didn't." Mike gritted his teeth, "It was a trap, there were so many of them…we just ran." Quinn wanted to scream, you didn't _run_ from Wendigo's! "Stuart…man I don't know, I thought he was behind me!" Quinn growled at him in annoyance but kept her eyes in front.

"Why didn't you just stay fucking still?" She asked through her own clenched teeth, still desperately searching for signs of Stuart, maybe he'd been a little smarter than these two idiots and stayed still. If that was the case then she'd have to go rescue him. She glanced back over her shoulder at Josh; he looked pale, and dazed and though he'd attacked Sam…he didn't seem to be undergoing any sort of transformation, no white eyes, no sharp teeth – perhaps they'd reached him just in time, they should be safe for a while if she left them here.

"Well 'scuse me for panicking!" Mike grumbled, keeping his eyes in front of him, "Eye's up front Indiana, we can check on crazy eyes later." Quinn shook her head in aggravation.

"Really, Indiana? I'm not a fucking archaeologist." Quinn growled, "C'mon Stu, where are you…" She sighed and chewed her lip nervously.

A few moments later, she really wished she hadn't asked that. From out of the sea of darkness in front of them, an object came hurtling towards them at quite some speed and dropped at Quinn's feet. Sam screamed, but Chris covered her mouth with his hand to muffle it and Quinn felt herself go numb – staring up at her was Stuart's head, very detached from his body; his eyes glazed over and his face twisted in terror.

Stuart was dead.


	5. Survival

**A/N: Well, disaster struck Saturday. Checked my USB to do more writing and ALL my writing documents had been deleted - naturally I proceeded to have a _breakdown_ on the spot. Luckily _this_ story was backed-up, but not all of it, so as a consequence I have a lot of catching up to do. ALSO I managed to find an older USB I have with all my old writing documents on, and I now have EVERYTHING backed up on memory stick, PC and laptop so I've gone a little backup crazy - but better than than losing everything again right?**

 _ **Exhale deeply.**_

 **Right! Well, my rant is over now, on a positive I've never been more excited to receive emails in my life - thank you for the follows/favs and reviews! So glad everyone seems to be enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it. _Much love._**

* * *

 _Stuart was dead._

Quinn felt the blood rush to her head, she felt a pain in her chest; she felt dizzy. She felt sick.

 _Stuart was dead._

Though she was vaguely aware of the others saying things behind her, she could no longer hear them, the blood pounding in her head had become incredibly loud. It was all she could focus on.

 _Stuart was dead._

Slowly she managed to drag herself to her feet and look down, her eyes locked with the dark vacant ones of her best friend. At least it was quick.

 _Stuart was dead._

She felt a hand on her own and she looked down; she saw Sam had grabbed her and she ripped herself from the blonde's grasp, she didn't want comforting right now. Why had the Wendigo thrown his head? Was it taunting her? But…why didn't it just come for them? Why was it keeping back? Quinn shook her head, she needed to think, they were in greater danger now than ever and she couldn't lose her cool – there would be a time for her anger and grief but this wasn't it. She had four other lives to take into consideration – Quinn was a hunter and it was time for her to act like it. Instead, she detached herself from the situation, keeping her breathing steady and controlled just as her father had taught her to; she started to look around the cavern, she spun on the spot slowly trying to take everything in…behind them. On the wall were markings, symbols…wards.

Slowly, she ran her hand over them; a ghost of a smile appearing on her face. "Quinn?" Sam's voice was quiet and worried.

"This is why it won't attack us." Quinn told them softly, "These are wards that keep the spirits away…pops set them up around the mines so there'd be safe zones." Her shoulders suddenly slumped and her hand balled into a fist. "Looks like he's still protecting me." The four friends watched Quinn in silence, their concern for her growing.

"Quinn, are you…?" She slowly raised her head but didn't turn to them.

"I'll be fine. Jus'…just give me a minute." She exhaled deeply. Josh must have wandered from his original spot into this one, which was probably why he was still alive – possibly the only lucky thing to have happened to him throughout his whole ordeal...that and his sister recognising, and not murdering him. The Wendigo was trying to get Quinn away from the wards so it could kill her too; she shook her head, a look of grim determination settling onto her face. "Not today you piece of shit." She made her way over to her duffle bag and rooted around in it for a few seconds before finding what she was looking for, she handed a pair to Mike.

"Are these…?" He examined them carefully and popped them on.

"Night vision goggles, yes indeed." She placed on her own and looked into the darkness in the direction Chris and Mike and come from. There is was. Lurking just outside of normal human vision, hanging back but stalking them still.

"Why didn't you wear these earlier?" Mike asked, "It would have made seeing a hell of a lot easier."

"Because they reduce peripheral vision, they're fine if you're in a space like this but wandering about in the dark with them is dangerous, it's easier to be attacked from behind or the side." She explained. "You see it?" Mike nodded, and they both took aim. Quinn suddenly sighed and stopped aiming.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Even if we can see it now, bullets don't do any actual harm. We need to lure it out and burn it, it knows we're here even if it can't always see us so it won't be going away any time soon." She glanced at Mike and he shook his head.

"Aw come on, really?"

"Either I do or you do." She shrugged, "I'm a better shot but I'm not risking sending you over there." Quinn stood up placed her gun back in its holster, this time she needed both hands for the flamethrower. She handed her goggles to Chris, "You two have my back, if at any point it looks like I might die…just shoot it or something." And with that she walked towards the dark.

"Be careful…" She smiled at Sam.

"I don't plan on dying yet." With each step she took her grip on her weapon tightened, "Guys has it moved?" She called over her shoulder back to Chris and Mike.

"Nah but…"

"It looks like it's watching you." She grit her teeth. Good. Quinn wasn't certain how big the radius of the wards protection was, but she did hope she didn't have to go too much further away from the others; if she died right now their odds of escaping would drop considerably.

"Quinn, to your right!" She jumped in surprise and she felt herself knocked to the ground; there was a heavy weight on top of her. It screamed in her face. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!"

 _ **BANG.**_

The weight left her chest and Quinn quickly scrambled to her feet, desperately ignoring how winded she felt; turning to her right she saw it sprawled on the floor and she turned to attack. Flames erupted from her weapon and she doused the Wendigo in them; panting heavily Quinn stumbled backwards and dropped onto one knee clutching at her side. "Quinn you ok?" Mike asked. She heard footsteps and felt hand under her arms, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I think so." Chris steadied her and she glanced round at them all. "We better get a move on, we need to head back…"

"Quinn what…about…" She looked at Sam and saw she was gazing at Stuarts head. Quinn balled her fists and looked away.

"You wanna carry his head out?" Sam looked horrified, "Yeah, well, neither do I." She felt a wave of nausea hit her; they needed to get out of there now before she completely lost her composure. "We'll head back the way Sam and I came, hopefully it'll still be clear…Sam you ok to keep hold of Joshua?" Sam nodded, she linked her arm through Josh's and gripped her deodorant tightly in one hand, and the lighter in the other. "Mike you stay at the back, Chris and I will lead the front." They slowly set off back the way they'd came, hoping the journey back would be free of any Wendigo shaped complications. Of course they would have no such luck.

Several minutes after they'd set off from the safe zone, Quinn heard something; a scrambling from somewhere behind them. "W-what was that?" Chris asked in a high pitched whisper. They stopped moving and strained their ears.

"You're the one with night vision goggles on genius, take a look." Quinn grumbled. Chris turned his head robotically to check behind them; there was another scrambling sound.

"Oh…shit." He breathed out.

"What is it?" Quinn asked impatiently.

"Well…Mike told you we walked into a trap right?" She nodded, "And that…there were a few of them right?" Quinn felt her blood run cold, she nodded again. "They appear to have…followed us." She heard a collective groan from behind her.

"Just don't move." She warned them all, everyone stood frozen like statues while Quinn desperately tried to work out what to do next. "How many?"

"Three." She chewed her lip, they couldn't be far from the exit, she and Sam hadn't been walking for that long, she was certain…and they'd already past the slightly smouldering remains of the Wendigo they'd charred to death earlier. They could definitely make it, they just needed a distraction.

"Are they watching?"

"They're…looking. But I guess they don't know we're here or we'd be dead." Chris said fairly, Quinn felt her lips twitch.

"I have a plan, it involves you guys staying very still." Quinn whispered, just loud enough for them all to hear.

"Sounds good, I'm up for that." Chris replied quickly.

"You guys stay still. Don't move I…I'll _lure_ them away, when you can see they're out of sight Chris, you and the others need to make a run for it. I'll…meet you out there." She hoped she sounded convincing, but judging by the way Chris grabbed her wrist tightly, she guessed she didn't.

"Oh hell no. We ain't leaving you now!" Mike hissed at her, Quinn tried to tug her arm away from Chris.

"Technically, I'd be leaving you."

"We can't Quinn." Sam was shaking her head; there was a screech from behind them.

"Okay, stop fucking moving please." They all froze again, "We have no choice, you need to stick together and get him out, I'm…dispensable." Chris looked though he was about to argue, "Look I'm not _trying_ to die okay! I'm just trying to save you all, so let me." Silence followed her declaration and she managed to ease herself from Chris' grasp. "Wait for me to lure them off." She reminded him.

"And what if they rip you to pieces on the spot?" Mike asked her bluntly.

"Then we're all kinds of fucked." Once out of Chris' hold she was painfully reminded of the injury she sustained in their last Wendigo encounter. "Ignore it, ignore it. You are a hunter." She whispered to herself. Quinn was fast, but at this point pure determination was keeping her moving; she darted past everyone and down a separate tunnel, the howls and screams confirmed they'd seen her. Quinn fled for her life, running with everything she had left in her hoping against hope that the others took their opportunity and got out of there.

* * *

"That girl is bat-shit crazy." Mike growled as they ran for the exit, he couldn't believe she'd sacrificed herself for them – four almost complete strangers. Sam was half-dragging Josh who didn't appear to have a clue what was going on and Chris limped behind them, his injury from the previous week playing up. They could see daylight, they were almost safe. "You guys go ahead." Mike stopped and let Sam, Josh and Chris pass him.

"What're you doing?" Sam asked, "You're going back in there?" She raised her voice and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Bro, Quinn said she'd meet us out here…" Chris panted, leaning against the cave wall.

"She isn't meeting us anywhere." Mike spat, "Her best friend had his head ripped her and thrown at her and she probably has cracked ribs, you honestly think she had any intention of coming back?!" Sam and Chris stood there in an uncomfortable silence. "You three head back to the cable car." And with that Mike turned on his heel and headed back into the mines, shotgun tightly in hand.

"Hey!" He spun just in time to catch Sam's deodorant and lighter, "You might need these." He gave her a brief smile and went back in.

"Let's hope you're still alive you crazy bitch."

* * *

Quinn was still alive.

Somehow, miraculously.

Outrunning them had not been the best plan, so at the first opportunity she had taken cover behind some wooden panelling and stayed as still as she could, hoping they'd pass her – and they had. But they were still close, she could hear their frustrated screams. Quinn rested her head on the wood, she slid down and clutched her side tightly; the pain in her side had come back with a vengeance. "Ah crap." When she'd come up with this plan, she knew her chances of survival were slim but now she was here…and even after everything, she found she didn't really want to die. If she could evade the Wendigo, she'd still manage to survive long enough…to possibly lose her mind and try eat someone. Just like Josh.

She pressed her hand against her body warmer and sighed, her handgun was still there. If worst came to worst…

"Quinn?" A sharp urgent sounding whisper cut through the darkness, more mimicking? "Quinn…" No, that sounded like Mike, where would the Wendigo have heard that to mimic it?

"M-mike?" She called out softly, if it was a trap…she'd just sit really still.

"You're alive?" His voice was closer now, she tried to stand back up but the pain in her side was too much. "Where are you?"

"Ugh, round here. Wooden panelling." Footsteps approached and Mike's head appeared round the side of her hiding place. "Why're you here?! I told you all to _get out of here_!" She growled. Mike rolled his eyes and bent to help her up.

" _You're welcome_." He pulled her out from around the panelling, "And FYI everyone is out."

"Then why are you here?" She asked.

"For the scenery." He replied sarcastically, he slowly led her back the way he had come. They were both luck she hadn't got very far. Quinn flushed in angry embarrassment as she finally realised he'd come back for her.

"You're an idiot," She grumbled.

"Just say thank you, Indiana." Quinn felt her lips twitch and she sighed softly as she relented.

"Thank you."


	6. Aftermath

**A/N: Instalment 6, we'll be leaving Blackwood Pines for the moment and returning to California (where I believe they're all from). There _will_ be more nitty-gritty gunness in the future but for the next couple of chapters I'm about to shove a whole lot of angst and _feelings_ your way.**

 **Truly an emo kid at heart. Enjoy!**

* * *

When Mike and Quinn emerged from the Mines they were greeted by blinding light and the police. Apparently they had found Sam, Chris and Josh on their way back to the cable car and upon seeing Josh Washington safe and sound – though a little worse for ware – they had demanded answers; not knowing what to say they'd distracted the police by telling them about Quinn and Mike still stuck in the mine. Naturally, the police had gone to investigate. Fortunately, Quinn's cracked ribs prevented them from asking too many probing questions and they were all escorted from Blackwood Pines and to the nearest hospital to be examined. And of course, the Washington's were informed that their son had been found.

"You say you slipped and fell down a ditch?" The police officer asked her again sceptically.

"Yepp."

"And…that's how you cracked your ribs?"

"That's what I said."

"And that you just happened to stumble across Joshua Washington despite our officers best efforts over the past week?" Quinn's head was pounding, she wanted him to _fuck off_ and leave her alone; hadn't she been through enough for one day?

"Well we _were_ looking for him." She pointed out, they had by no means 'stumbled across' him. "Perhaps if a group of adolescents managed to find him in a few hours while you guys couldn't find him in a week then you should be questioning your staff, not me." She replied in a snarky manner; he didn't seem to appreciate her comment or her tone.

"A group of _heavily armed_ adolescents." He pointed out sharply, "We'll need to question you further on that." He wrote something down on his notepad and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, ok whatever, can you fuck off now?" She asked him bluntly, the pain medication had made her particularly ballsy. The officer bristled angrily at her rudeness, but happily for Quinn the doctor swooped in to her rescue.

"Detective Milner, Miss Quinzel has had a very trying day and needs time to rest and recuperate and asking these questions right now isn't good for my patient." She informed him a firm voice, she gently guided him out of the examination room and Quinn sighed.

"Thanks Doc." Dr Greene smiled at her.

"Not a problem, just try not to answer any questions until this medication has worn off." She advised. Quinn snorted in amusement but agreed.

"How's everyone else?" She asked.

"Your friends are all fine." Quinn didn't bother correcting her by informing her that they were not her friends, and that her only friend was now a headless corpse stuck in a mine. "Joshua Washington had a few minor injuries but…his main problem isn't physical." Dr Greene suddenly straightened up and coughed, as if she realised she perhaps shouldn't discuss it much more; though Quinn had figured as much, she'd be surprised if he could remember anything about the journey out of the mines. "You on the other hand have a few fractured ribs and possible concussion." Quinn grimaced, she'd come off worse than she thought. There was suddenly a knock at the door, Dr Greene stood and pulled the curtain around the bed Quinn was laid on for privacy before she answered. "Hello, oh, Mrs Washington, Mr Washington!" Quinn tensed and listened carefully, "What can I do for you?"

"Well actually…we wondered if we'd be able to see the girl responsible for saving our Joshua's life." Mrs Washington was the one who spoke, Quinn gripped the sides of her bed, why did they want to see her?

"Oh I – er – see, just give me one minute to see if Miss Quinzel is up to receiving any visitors please." Dr Greene closed the door slightly and peaked her head around Quinn's curtain, "I assume you heard?" Quinn nodded, "Will you see them? It's completely up to you but…they do seem grateful, you probably can't put it off forever." She advised quietly, Quinn sighed.

"Send 'em in Doc." She sat up as much as she could without causing herself pain and waiting for the Washington's to be let in. Dr Greene pulled the curtain back around and Quinn came face to face with the parents of the Washington children; the first thing she noticed was how tired they looked. But of course they looked tired, they'd probably been through hell. "Uh, hi." She cleared her throat a little awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed. Mrs Washington let out a strange noise, somewhere between a cry of happiness and relief, and enveloped Quinn in a hug – a hug she certainly hadn't been expecting, "Ouch..." She held her bandaged side and Mrs Washington released her suddenly, looking surprised.

"Sorry, I didn't realise…" Her voice was soft spoken but heavy with emotion, her eyes sparkled as she looked at Quinn, "I – we're just so, _so_ grateful for you finding our Joshua…I don't know what I would have done if…" She trailed off and shook her head, plastering a watery smile on her face. "But I don't have to worry about that, not anymore. He's safe, and it's thanks to you." Quinn looked away in embarrassment, unsure of how to handle such positive emotion directed at her.

"Well…yeah, I mean…everyone did their bit." She mumbled a little incoherently, when she looked back up she saw they were both smiling at her, as if at that moment in time she was there favourite person in the world. "How is he?" She asked, to fill the silence.

"He…" Mrs Washington started to answer but trailed off.

"Physically he isn't as bad as he could be." Mr Washington answered for her, his voice was much deeper and smoother than his wife's; a lot more certain. Quinn idly noted how he'd used the word 'physically'; that fit with what the nurse had said, so Josh wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Ah…at least he's safe now right?" She commented with a half-smile.

"Yes…we're going to bring him home with us to recover at his own pace." Mrs Washington informed her, "And ah, not to pry…but we heard from Christopher that your father also tried to save Joshua but…" Mrs Washington was clearly treading on eggshells here, unsure what to say in order to keep the conversation as amiable as possible.

"Yeah, pops wasn't as lucky as me." Quinn sighed heavily, "But at least he died fighting." The Washington's looked surprised by her lack of tears. "We had a complicated relationship." She informed them with a small smile. Dr Greene appeared at the foot of her bed with a clip-board.

"Well, there'll be no more fighting for you." She told Quinn with a critical look, "You need plenty of bedrest, try not to overexert yourself if possible." Quinn groaned; she wasn't one to sit idle and _rest_.

"I take it a flight back to the UK is out of the question?" Dr Greene smiled at her.

"You'd be correct."

"Wonderful…" She muttered, clicking her tongue. What was she supposed to do if she couldn't fly back home? Not that there would be anyone there, she had shared a flat with Stuart and…Quinn quickly shook her head, pushing that to the very back of her mind. Not right now.

"Is there anywhere you can stay in the meantime?" Dr Greene inquired, Quinn frowned.

"I was staying in a motel originally but…" She highly doubted the shady, run-down place she'd be staying would be good for recovery, plus she'd checked out. "It's cool; I'll…figure something out." Quinn looked up and realised the Washington's were staring at each other, apparently having some form of telepathic conversation. The conversation ended with Mr Washington sighing and Mrs Washington smiling victoriously.

"Willow-!"

"Quinn. Just Quinn. Please." She added the 'please' as a polite afterthought, Stuart's manners evidently rubbing off on her at last.

"Right, Quinn, if you'd like we would be more than happy to have you stay in one of our guest rooms until you recover, it's no trouble at all." Quinn gaped at Mrs Washington, not certain how to respond. When she failed to say anything, Mrs Washington turned to Dr Greene, "Well then that's settled."

"W-wait a second!" Quinn finally choked out, "I can't do that! I mean, it's nice of you and everything, _really nice_ but…you don't even know me." She was a foul tempered, gun-toting Wendigo slayer; not exactly someone you play house with.

"And you didn't know our son, yet you came all the way here to find him and injured yourself saving him." Mr Washington pointed out, Quinn sighed in defeat. She couldn't say she was entirely comfortable with the offer, though she could appreciate what they were doing. Although…it would give her a chance to keep an eye on Josh, she was sure he should be fine now that he was away from the mountain and _fed_ …but just to be sure. She had gone to a lot of trouble to save that boy.

"I guess I can't say no huh?" She joked, "Thanks."

Quinn was discharged from hospital shortly after, and everyone travelled with the Washington's back across the border. "Man, so glad to be back on home turf." Chris mumbled glancing out of the window, Mike nodded and yawned in agreement. Chris luckily just had a sprain from pushing his ankle too far too soon after damaging it, Mike and Sam were completely fine. Josh on the other hand…he sat away from everyone else, in a trace like state just staring straight out of the window. Almost as if he was still in shock.

"Speak for yourself." Quinn grumbled. America was nice and everything but England was home, Chris grinned at her.

"Not enjoyed your trip?" He joked, Quinn gave him a look.

"Oddly enough, no." Chris suddenly tensed as if he'd just remembered. Luckily no one had mentioned Stuart even being present in their reports to the police; so no one had asked any questions about him. No one else knew he was dead, so Quinn didn't have to deal with explaining how it happened.

"I guess we'll be parting ways soon huh?" Sam said, shifting closer to her, Quinn smiled and shook her head.

"I won't be travelling anywhere with fractured ribs." She lifted up her jumper to show them her bandage. "Damned monster did a number on me." Sam frowned at her.

"What're you gonna do then?" Quinn glanced round at them all and saw they were staring.

"Didn't the Washington's tell you?" Sam and Mike looked towards Chris, who shook his head, "They uh, graciously offered me a spare room to recover in. I can't go anywhere else really so…I accepted." She finished with a little shrug, she spared Josh a glance as she finished; no reaction.

"Well look at that Indiana, we're stuck with you for a little longer!" Mike smirked, Quinn groaned.

"Please, don't go out of your way to visit me. I have a feeling it'd be detrimental to my health." She joked, Mike clutched at his chest in a mock-wounded manner. "At least I've avoided the wrath of Jess."

"You betcha', I'll have to introduce you when we're all back." Quinn raised a brow at him.

"You're going to introduce me to the woman who threatened my life? Are you sure that's wise?" Mike was still smirking at her.

"Oh I'm sure, you act like a wolf but you're really more of a puppy." He scoffed; Chris started laughing and Quinn bristled and turned red, she'd never been more insulted. She huffed and folded her arms; she saw Sam was watching Josh with a furrowed brow.

"Worried?" She asked her in a quiet voice, Sam jumped a little and tried to smile but failed.

"Well…yeah, I thought he'd be…I dunno, better than this." Quinn shook her head a little, looking around she saw that Mike and Chris agreed with her; they were all expecting too much from him.

"Hey, Josh." She took talking to him upon herself and walked over to him; he looked a little startled but turned his head to face her, "How're you feeling?" Josh opened his mouth, before closing it again. He looked so troubled by such a simple question.

"I…don't know." He finally answered honestly, Quinn surprised him by giving him a small smile.

"Honesty's the best policy." She told him softly, "Don't ever feel pressured to lie about it, recovery isn't easy, but you have all the time in the world." Quinn patted his shoulder a little awkwardly and returned to her seat. Josh still didn't say anything to them, but as Quinn walked away he did relax into his seat a little more.

Once they were back everyone said their goodbyes and were dropped off at their residence, with promises of coming to visit as soon as they were able. Quinn settled into her seat, trying to get comfortable; it had been a long trip and by this point she wanted a bed – any bed would do. Throughout the trip she had made sure to keep an eye on Josh, not because she had any fears about any bad energy still lingering around him but just because…he had had a _rough_ week. Arguably a rough year, if she were him she was sure she'd want to go into hibernation, but he hadn't even napped on their way back, he just kept his gaze resolutely fixed on the scenery. Quinn let out a little sigh; one problem at a time.

When they finally pulled up outside the Washington's estate – yes, estate – Quinn rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things; the house was huge, she was willing to bet they had more than a couple of spare rooms. "Holy crap." She whispered as she existed the vehicle, from the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw Josh's mouth twitch.

"My...parents' are kinda rich." He murmured softly, Quinn looked from him to the house and nodded.

"Yeah, you're not kidding." Quinn was at long last taken inside and shown to her room, and she didn't even bother changing, she quite happily flopped back on the huge bed – and swore loudly when she remembered she had fractured ribs. She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes, sighing as she would finally be able to properly rest up and get some sleep…

…only Quinn found she couldn't.

Everything was too quiet, too foreign. There was no TV in this room to cut into the suffocating silence, and she was finally left completely alone with her thoughts for the first time in a while. Completely alone…usually at night she'd be able to hear Stuart snoring from his bedroom across the hall.

Oh god Stuart.

It finally hit her.

 _Stuart was dead._


	7. Trauma

**A/N: And here's chapter 7, I'm flying to Tenerife on Wednesday so I won't be updating for about a week; _oooooo the suspense!_ But I'm a huge nerd so I'll probably still be writing while I'm out there. This chapter's a little heftier than the others according to the word-count but I imagine it'll feel the same as ever.**

 **Enjoy! And if you _really_ enjoy, and are feeling particularly _jazzy_ leave me a review! You know...if you want.**

* * *

Empty.

Quinn felt empty.

Stuart had been with her since she was 11 years old, he had stood by her through everything life had thrown thus far – and now he was gone. When she'd been absolutely awful to him throughout their first year at boarding school, he'd kept following her around trying to befriend her anyway. When she'd informed him that Wendigo's – mythical creatures from native American legend – were in fact real, and that her father spent all year keeping them locked up on a mountain in Canada, he had readily believed her. And when she had wanted to travel to said mountain on a suicide mission to avenge her father and rescue a complete stranger he had willing volunteered to come with her; they hadn't even discussed it, as if him not going wasn't even an option. And as Quinn lay there in the strange, large bed she was finally forced to face facts: she had effectively killed him.

Quinn _knew_ he wasn't capable of fighting off a creature like that, yet not only had she allowed him to come so she wouldn't be alone, she had sent him off with strangers so they'd be out of there quicker. Her selfishness and impatience had gotten Stuart killed. It was her fault, it was _all her fault_. Lifting her fist to her face, she bit down on her knuckles hard, and clenched her eyes shut…only to be confronted with the image of his detached head gazing up at her lifelessly. Quinn tried her best not to cry out and bit down harder; never since her mother had died hadn't shed a tear, she had told herself never again would she. Opening her eyes again made the image vanish, and she was instead confronted by reality – a big, dark, empty room.

Empty, empty, empty – just like her life.

The stinging in her eyes was followed by tears, tears she hastily tried to wipe away but only seemed to succeed make her face wetter; she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Taking in a deep, shuddery breath she quietly slipped out of the room in search of a bathroom; tears still flowing very freely from her face no matter how much she angrily wiped them away. Crying was _normal_ , missing him was _normal_. But Quinn _wasn't normal_ and she found herself unsure of what to do, how was she supposed to grieve over the loss of Stuart when she hadn't even been able to grieve over the loss of her father?

"Is someone there?" Quinn froze, staying completely still; it was Josh's voice she was fairly certain. "Hello?" It was definitely reflex, an instinctive action after being down the Mines, there was no other reason for her to completely freeze up. Quinn cleared her throat, hoping to god her tears hadn't affected her voice.

"H-hey, sorry, I was just…looking for a bathroom." She saw the figure walk over to her and thanked her lucky stars the lights in the corridor were off.

"Ah, Quinn right? We've not…properly met." He sounded just as awkward as she felt.

"Yeah, you were pretty out of it in the Mines." She suddenly bit her tongue, doubting he would want to discuss his traumatic experience in a dark hallway with a stranger.

"…bathroom's this way." She silently followed his form down the corridor, the bathroom happened to be next to a large window that overlooked the gardens and that moonlight flooded through. "Here you go, light's here." Quinn lifted her hand to flick the switch at the same and his hand covered hers. "What the…?" Josh pulled away his hand quickly and stared at it.

"Sorry…" Quinn mumbled, Josh looked back at her and flicked the switched before dragging her into the bathroom with him. "Hey what the hell?!" Josh looked at her hand again and Quinn saw it was bleeding, he must have got some of the blood on him when he went for the switch. "Aw crap."

"You're bleeding…" He mumbled.

"No shit." She tried to turn away and wash her hand under the tap, hoping her hair would shield her face from him. She grabbed some tissue and ran it under the tap to moisten it before rubbing it across her knuckles, admittedly a little too harsh; she winced.

"You…you're being too rough." It almost sounded like he was telling her off. Quinn idly wondered if he always spoke so softly, as Josh took the cloth of her and took over gently wiping her knuckles, and strangely enough, she let him. It was easier than arguing with him at this point. "How did you manage to…" He trailed off when he caught sight of her face; Quinn immediately turned away and scowled. This was not how she had envisioned their first proper meeting; her a crying mess bleeding in the hallway and him seemingly completely calm and detached about it all. Much to his credit and her relief Josh didn't ask her anything else, he simply finished cleaning her hand and fetched a small length of bandage from the cabinet to wrap around it. When he was done he looked back at her face, "You er, have some blood on your face." Quinn's hand automatically touched her cheek; that was why her face felt like it was getting wetter when she wiped away her tears.

"T-thanks." She sniffled slightly in the most dignified manner she could manage.

"No problem, 'least I can do considering…" Considering she saved his life. "I'll…leave you alone now, can you find your own way back?" Quinn nodded silently and Josh left her alone; as soon as he was gone she let out a sigh of relief and gripped the sink. How humiliating. Examining her face in the mirror she saw the extent of the blood smears wasn't too bad and they easily washed off, she also splashed some water on her face in the hopes it'd calm her down. Quinn didn't have the face for crying, some girls got watery eyes and cute little red noses – Quinn got the red nose, red swollen eyes, swollen lips and a whole lot of snot; not so cute.

"Hope you appreciate this Stu…" She grumbled staring at her reflection; a hysterical little bubble of laughter left her lips. Quinn ran a slightly unstable hand through her hair and steadied her breathing, she knew she couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. Having cleaned herself up she retreated back to her temporary living quarters and crawled back into bed once more; how could she feel so dead while her mind was so alive? There was nothing to take her mind off the hopelessness of the situation, no matter what she did or how she tried to look at things it was always the same; her mother was dead, her father was dead, Stuart was dead. Quinn now officially had no one in the world who gave two craps about her – sure the Washington's and everyone were _grateful_ , but it wasn't the same as having someone who actually _cared_. And what about Stuart's family? Quinn had never even met them…in fact she couldn't recall a single instance of him ever mentioning them, if he had she was a truly terrible friend for not remembering.

She lay on her back at the edge of the bed and stared at the ceiling, she had never liked being in the middle. In all honesty she didn't like big beds, it felt so unnatural to lay in the centre of something so empty, and for one person it was too much. Quinn was determined to be entirely focussed on how much she _hated_ the bed; that was obviously why she couldn't sleep. It had nothing to do with the overwhelming sense of guilt and sadness that threatened to drown her at any given moment, no, it was the _fucking bed_.

Regardless, she had the distinct impression she wouldn't be getting much sleep that night - though she was actually wrong on that account. Quinn got absolutely no sleep that night.

* * *

Having a small mental breakdown on zero sleep was an incredibly trying experience; not only was her head in absolute turmoil, she was exhausted and in pain. As such she only thought it was considerate to avoid absolutely everyone in the Washington household, god knows they didn't deserve to deal with her in her usual snarky state, inflicting this side of her on them would just be downright cruel – or so she told herself. Quinn wasn't _hiding_ , she was being _considerate_.

By the time night rolled round again, Quinn found she couldn't stand being cooped up the room any longer and she slipped out for another nightly trip to the Washington's rather nice bathroom. "Damn this place is fancy…and I've only seen two rooms." She shook her head in disbelief, flicking the light switch she entered the bathroom and closed the door a little behind her. Examining her face in the mirror, Quinn cringed, she looked like hell. Who would have guessed zero sleep and sporadic tearful fits would be detrimental to a person's appearance? "Get a fucking grip." She scolded herself in the mirror, "There's nothing you can do…you can't change the past…" She gripped the edges of the sink and felt her shoulders hunch in defeat.

"Y'know…talking to yourself is the first sign of madness?" Quinn jumped and turned around quickly, Josh was sat on a window seat staring out of the bathroom window, he must have been in there the whole time, "And believe me, I know all about madness." He added in a slightly mocking voice. Josh turned his head lazily to look at her, she was staring at him in surprise, still gripping the sink behind her.

"Why're you here?" She demanded automatically. Josh raised an eyebrow at her.

"This _is_ my house, and I was in here before you." He pointed out; Quinn shifted slightly from foot to foot and cleared her throat.

"Right. Sorry. I'll go." She quickly spun, ready to leave. Quinn had stayed to keep an eye on _him_ yet seemingly every time they met he seemed perfectly composed and she was in varying states of distress.

"It's fine." Josh piped up, Quinn froze with her hand on the door handle and turned back to look at him. She cautiously made her way back to the sink, and splashed some cold water on her face; it helped a little but not much.

"Not that it's any of my business…" She grumbled, "But why a _re_ you here?" She was genuinely a little curious, hanging out in the bathroom at night with all the lights off wasn't exactly normal behaviour.

"I like the view." Josh replied, his lips twitching slight in amusement, "I assume you didn't just come in here to talk to yourself." Quinn huffed and blew her hair from her face, leaning against the sink she decided to take a different approach with him; perhaps if she was honest, he would be with her.

"I…can't sleep. I couldn't last night and I can't tonight." Josh actually turned to face her, "Bed's too big, room's too quiet…conscience too guilty." She jokey lamely, "I can't stand it."

"I…get that." He replied finally, his face was understanding, "I usually keep the TV on, the background noise…helps." Quinn paused, carefully thinking about what she should say next.

"There's no TV in 'the guest room'." Quinn smiled a little, "Guess I'll just have to suffer in silence…literally." She ran a hand through her head and sighed, she stood up and made her way back to the door. "Well it's been nice talkin' to you Josh…enjoy your view."

"None of the guest rooms have a TV." Josh informed her, "You can watch mine if you'd like…I'm not exactly using it." He offered, Quinn paused unsure what to say; were all American strangers so generous and familiar?

"I – er…thanks, I…might…I'll…go now." Quinn stumbled over her words and quickly left the bathroom to retreat back into 'her' room. What an odd encounter. Once she was safely back in her room Quinn got back in bed and stared at the ceiling again, this time her thoughts wondered to Josh. Truth be told she couldn't tell how he was doing; he seemed to spend a lot of time staring off into space silently, yet if engaged in conversation he wouldn't ignore anyone, or at least he hadn't ignored her so far. He reminded her very much of a robot, the responses were all there but there didn't seem to be any emotion behind them. Quinn almost laughed at the irony of the situation; Blackwood Pines had turned a once loving a thoughtful boy into a robot and Quinn – who was usually so cool and composed – into a blubbering insomniac. She sighed angrily, "I fucking hate this bed."

* * *

It was her third night with the Washington's and Quinn still hadn't been able to sleep, every time she closed her eyes she was confronted by the same haunting image of Stuarts severed head. On top of that she hadn't eaten in…a while, her stomach was constantly in knots, and Quinn was unsure whether it was the hunger making her feel so nauseous, or reality. Once again she found herself wandering the corridors at night, half wondering if she'd have another fateful encounter with the youngest Washington. Would three nights in a row be _too_ coincidental?

"Boo." Quinn yelped as a hand reached for her shoulders and she automatically gripped and twisted it, "Ah, shit Quinn!"

"Oh!" Quinn released a squirming Josh, he rubbed his wrist and stared at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was. "God dammit don't do that!" She scowled at him.

"Gee, well, I'd apologise but you almost broke my wrist for it." He replied sarcastically, Quinn flushed a little and frowned at the floor.

"Sorry…" She mumbled quietly. She swore she'd never have to say sorry as much in her life. "Guess I'm still a little on edge." She explained, Josh rubbed his wrist slightly but sighed.

"Off for another midnight stroll? You've passed the bathroom." He said, changing the subject. Quinn awkwardly placed her hands in her pockets.

"Thought I'd try find a new haunt, you seem have dibs on the bathroom." She wasn't sure where she was going, night time was the only time she felt free to leave her room and god knows she wanted to leave her room. Josh stared at her for a while, making her a little uncomfortable. "I got something on my face?" She asked, folded her arms across her chest pointedly.

"You look like hell." He chuckled, Quinn snorted at him; she knew she looked awful.

"You hardly look like Prince Charming." She retorted; surprise flashed across Josh's face for a second before he grinned at her.

"Come with me." He beckoned her and walked off, Quinn stood up a little straighter and stared after him; he was oddly unpredictable. "Well?" He paused half way down the corridor and Quinn eventually followed out of curiosity. Josh stopped outside a room and opened up the door, allowed Quinn to enter first; she regarded him suspiciously for a moment before she shuffled in, Josh followed and closed the door behind them. "Welcome to mi casa." Quinn glanced about slowly, it had a clinical, unlived-in feel about it. It was just too tidy for a boys room…not that she had seen many, Stuarts room had always been…

Quinn bit her lips suddenly and shook her head, as she did now every time a memory of Stuart surfaced. "Ah, nice TV." She offered.

"Thanks, it's all yours." With that Josh went to leave the room.

"Wait, what?" He looked at her over his shoulder.

"You need background noise don't you? I'm barely in here so it's kind of a waste." Josh shrugged, "Night." And with that he left Quinn stood in the centre of his room awkwardly.

"Well…this is beyond odd." She shook her head and sat on the end of his bed, she pressed the power button and watched as it flickered to life in front of her. Ah, the wonderful sound of background chatter and canned laughter – she'd never been so happy to hear it. Quinn crawled backwards until her back met pillows and she settled down in the centre of the bed; it appeared to be queen size rather than king size, queen size she could handle. She sat watched the TV for a few minutes; she didn't know what was happened or what the show was, but it didn't matter, it was bright and comforting. If she focussed enough on what they were saying, she found she was able to completely occupy her mind rendering her incapable of thinking of anything else; it was like a game.

Eventually she settled down even more into the bed, her shoulders sinking and her head hitting the pillow. Quinn had no idea how or when it happened, but before she knew it she had finally drifted off to sleep; it may have been less than peaceful, but it _was_ sleep.

* * *

 **At least I didn't leave it on a cliff-hanger.**


	8. Bonds

**A/N: I'm back at last after a lovely week away. I am shattered after a late night/early morning flight and a very confusing session at the cinema watching Crimson Peak; the entire experience was incredibly surreal to say the least. Oh if anyone was the US is reading this I have a question relating to a later chapter I'm writing: do you guys have letterboxes like in your doors? It might sound stupid but I was thinking about it and I've only every seen mail boxes at the end of drives rather than letterboxes like here in the UK...**

 **Though I'm not sure anyone reads these notes, but an answer would be appreciated! Enjoy.**

* * *

Quinn wasn't sure where she was, but it was very dark. No matter which direction she looked, the darkness that stretched out before her was seemingly endless and impermeable. It was cold too, so cold… "Hello? Earth to Quinn!" That voice…that voice!

"Stuart?!" Quinn turned to the source and saw the tall blond staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "Stu…where are we?" She looked around, the darkness was no longer as dark before, and now it looked familiar.

"We're in the Mines of course, are you alright Quinn?" He frowned at her and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder but paused before he made contact, "…did you hear that?" He asked, Quinn shook her head; she hadn't heard anything. "Come on!" He sent off running in a random direction away from her, leaving Quinn in his dust.

"Stuart…for fuck sake, stop running!" She wasn't certain _why_ , but she knew he shouldn't be running; not there…running was a mistake. Quinn set off after him at a fast pace, but not quite a run; the tunnel was getting brighter and she could just make out Stuart ahead of her, and a black figure at the very end. "Stu!"

"We've done it, we found him!" Quinn was suddenly rooted to the spot she found herself no longer able to move forwards or call out to Stuart. As he approached the figure, dread settled in the pit of her stomach…something wasn't right here. This whole situation was _wrong_ , but she couldn't for the life of her figure out _why_. What she did know, is that Stuart needed to keep away from the figure; but he carried on advancing with his arm outstretched. "Joshua Washington?" He placed his hand on the figures shoulder and for a few moments everything was completely calm and still…until a very non-human hand reached round from the figure and clamped down on top on Stuarts head and lifted him off the ground, "Q-Quinn…help me!" He screamed at her, their eyes locking across the cavern. Quinn was frozen, she couldn't move at all; all she could do was watch helplessly as Stuart thrashed about in mid-air. "Please Quinn!" His screaming was short lived, as the creature ripped his head from his shoulders and threw it in Quinn's direction.

Now she was able to move; she stumbled and scrambled back away from Stuart's head though his eyes followed her as it rolled forwards. "Oh crap...St-!" She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth to stop herself from retching. The creature then turned to face her, her scrambling having caught its attention; her wavering silvery gaze met with its own merciless clouded eyes. Once again, for a few moments everything was completely still and silent other than Quinn's heavy breathing; Quinn moved her hand backwards, wanting nothing more than to put space between her and Stuarts severed head. Seeing movement, suddenly the Wendigo screeched and leapt for her…

Sitting bolt upright in bed, Quinn clutched the covers and tried to get her bearings; sighing in relief she realised she wasn't in the Mines after all. She flopped back onto the bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead; it was a nightmare, of course it was a nightmare – _Stuart was dead_.

"Bad dream?" Quinn yelped and jumped, she spied a certain Washington sat by the TV, flicking through channels absently.

"Damn, you're just everywhere aren't you?" She grumbled, granted it was his room but he said he rarely used it; she rubbed her eyes and noted it was daylight outside, "Time is it?"

"Around 3."

"…am or pm?"

"Pm." He clarified with a small smile.

"How…long have you been…there?" She squinted at him suspiciously and he held his hands up in his defence.

"Not long, I just got back in." He glanced at her, "Don't worry I've not been watching you thrash about in your sleep; I've got better things to do." Absolutely nothing about what he just said reassured her, firstly where would Mr Roboto even be going outside this house? Secondly, he said she'd been thrashing and he'd _have_ to have been watching to know that, and finally…well, Quinn honestly just doubted that he really _did_ have anything better to do.

"Where did you go?" She asked as nonchalantly as possible; Josh tensed.

"None of your business." He mumbled turning back to the TV. Josh was really all over the place with the friendliness of his responses, one minute he was chipper (for someone with the emotional depth of a robot) and the next he was broody and mysterious.

"Aw and here I thought we were getting along so well! I'm in your bed and everything." Quinn drawled, she saw him smile begrudgingly. Josh muted the TV and spun around on the chair to face her, resting his folded arms on the back of it.

"How about a trade?" He offered, "You tell me what your dream was about and I'll tell you were I went." Quinn sat up properly in bed and scowled at him a little; having just woken from a nightmare she wasn't in the mood to haggle.

"That's hardly fair, my dream was… _personal_."

"And how do you know where I went wasn't?" Josh asked her with a raised brow. Quinn bit her lip; he had a point…but he could also be lying. "But hey, it's up to you." He spun back around and unmuted the TV. Quinn held back a growl; Joshua Washington was a frustrating fellow. Although…

"Fine, fine! I'll 'trade'." She relented, she wasn't up for all this 'sharing' malarkey but in the past telling her problems to Stuart usually helped and…guilt ridden nightmares probably fell into the category of 'problem'. Josh smirked at her triumphantly and muted the TV yet again and Quinn sighed; he definitely wasn't Stuart.

"How much do you remember about us rescuing you?" Quinn thought it best to see if he even remembered the head incident first.

"More than I wish I did." He informed her with a tense face.

"Well, we went down there with one more person than we came back with…excluding you." She waved at him indifferently, he frowned for a second before his eyes widened.

"The…head?" He asked rather delicately, Quinn winced and nodded.

"You do remember. Right. Well…that was _my_ companion. My friend, Stuart." She sighed softly, "A Wendigo got him." She took a deep breath and opted for speaking in short bursts. "In my dream…nightmare, we were back in the Mines. I was back there, with Stuart. Just us. And he ran off looking for you only it wasn't you and then I couldn't move and…poof!" She threw her hands up in the air.

"…poof?" Josh asked looking confused.

"Splat, rip, tear, whatever! Stuart was rendered headless." She flopped back on the bed and began examining the ceiling. _Inhale, exhale, inhale…exhale…_ nope, she felt absolutely no better about the situation _._ Taking a deep breath she sat back up and plastered a huge fake smile on her face, "So, that's me! Now what about you?" Josh looked taken back.

"That's…it? No…I dunno, follow up?" Quinn snorted.

"Nope. That wasn't part of the trade, now fess." She folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.

"I've…been to see my psychiatrist, Dr Hill." Quinn didn't really know what she'd been expecting to hear, but it wasn't that.

"Oh." She sat there a little awkwardly, fiddling with the covers. "That…going well?" She asked conversationally, Josh gave her a half smile and stood up shaking his head.

"Sorry, _that wasn't part of the trade_." He turned the TV off and headed for the door, "You hungry?" Quinn opened and closed her mouth a few times, before shaking her head.

"Nope." Right on cue her stomach growled. "Yepp."

"C'mon I'll show you were the kitchen is." Quinn slipped out of bed, "Ah you might want to change." Josh grinned at her and she realised she was wearing her pyjamas - luckily some clothes had been salvaged from the duffle bag Chris had saved. "I don't mind, but I figured you might." Quinn folded her arms over her chest, flushing angrily.

"No, this is fine. I don't care." She stomped past him with her head held high and he just watched her go in amusement.

"You're…surprisingly childish." He commented as he closed his door and they set off to the kitchen. "I expected you to be…I dunno, more serious." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"I'm perfectly serious when it's necessary for me to be."

"You're telling me; you held a gun to my head, I remember." Josh scratched the back of his head and Quinn frowned.

"Yeahhh, sorry about that." She shrugged, rather unapologetically.

"It's fine, I did try to eat Sam so y'know, understandable reaction." He said it in a joking manner but something about the look on his face afterwards was…unsettling. The emotion on his face was difficult to place.

"But you didn't." She reminded him with a gentle nudge, "You should be fine now…" She whispered the last part and although Josh heard her, he pretended not to. "Y'know this place isn't actually as huge as I thought." When they'd first rolled up she could have sworn it was like a mini-mansion, but in the light of day – after some sleep – she saw it was in fact just a well decorated suburban home, all be it a _very_ large one.

"It's home." Josh shrugged, "Is your place big?" She contemplated his question for a moment, did she really even have 'a place' anymore? She couldn't go back and live in the flat she'd shared with Stuart; too many memories.

"It was…cosy." She sighed; she had so much to do once she was healed. End her tenancy with the flat, get all her things moved…and then there was what she was going to do with Stuart's things. Keeping them would be…weird, and a little unhealthy, but getting rid of them would be _hard_. Josh watched her face as the series of emotions flickered across it; her default expression appeared to be a charming combination of anger and disgust – it reminded him a little of Beth. The elder twin had had a short temper and a severe case of resting bitch face, however she was a very loyal person…Josh suddenly shook his head; that was certainly an image he'd have to get rid of.

"Oh! Joshua, and...Quinn, lovely to see you again." A womans voice snapped them both from their thoughts. Quinn's head snapped up and she was confronted by a smiling Mrs Washington, it was the first time she had seen her since she kindly agreed – or rather, _told_ – Quinn she could stay with them. "Are you…feeling better?"

"Ah, yes. Sort of, sorry for…hiding in the guest room, I guess the er, grief finally caught up to me." She explained awkwardly.

"Of course, of course, completely understandable…he was your father." Quinn frowned for a second before she realised Mrs Washington didn't know anything about Stuart, she was bound to assume her grief would be for her recently departed father, because that was a _normal_ thing to grieve about. Not that a being upset over a death of a close friend would be unusual, but not grieving over the death of a parent _was_.

"…Yeah." She looked away, unable to hold her gaze any longer.

"I'm showing Quinn where the kitchen is, she's hungry." Josh stepped in, so Quinn didn't have to try converse with his mother any further; she was grateful.

"I'm not surprised!" Mrs Washington replied with an airy laugh, "By the way…Chris called again."

"Mom…"Josh sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know, I know, but…he really wants to see you." She glanced at Quinn, "Both of you, he wants to know that you're alright!" In all her moping and guilt, Quinn had genuinely forgotten about the others. It made sense they'd want to know how Josh was, after all they had risked their lives to save him but she was a little surprised they gave two shits about her. Perhaps Mrs Washington was just trying to make her feel included.

"Right." Josh's tone ended the discussion and he brushed past his mother and walked off, leaving Quinn alone with her.

"Well…nice seeing you again Mrs W." Quinn tried to smile at her, but in truth it was more of a grimace; she quickly walked on by her and after Josh. "Hey, slow down!" She clutched at her side, her ribs hadn't caused her too much of a problem while she was in bed but now she was up and about she was being painfully reminded that she was here to recuperate. "What was all that about then?" She caught up to him and they finally entered the kitchen, "Why won't you see Chris?" Josh slammed his hand on the counter and looked at her; he looked a little angry.

"What's it to you?!" He demanded, Quinn bristled angrily at being spoken to in such a manner and she grabbed his arm.

"What's it to me?" She repeated in a hiss, "We saved your life, they risked their lives to go back for you and now you're fucking ignoring them? How _selfish_ are you?" A look of surprise crossed his face, but Quinn wasn't finished yet. "You're kinda pissing me off you know that? My dad died – my _best friend died_ – so you could fucking live; not to mention your friends risked their lives so you could live!" She suddenly realised she may be going a little too far and she released his arm, "So just _fucking live_ Josh." Quinn sighed, feeling a little fatigued, "Some of us don't have that option anymore." She collapsed onto a bar stool and rested her head on her folded arms on top of the counter, gazing resolutely ahead; she was a little embarrassed she'd flown of the handle at him.

"That…just makes it worse." Quinn looked up in surprise as he sank onto a stool next to her.

"What does?"

"Them coming back for me, after all the messed up shit I did." His voice was quiet. "They shouldn't have wasted their time." He sounded regretful, "They shouldn't have bothered coming back for me!"

"Maybe not." Josh glanced at her, he looked so…hopeless. "But they did, and they're trying to get in contact so they obviously still care, even if you did do some 'messed up shit'." She smiled at him slightly. "The least you owe them is returning their calls." He heaved a mighty sigh.

"Maybe you're right." He conceded, "Man, you don't pull your punches do you?" He joked, Quinn flushed slightly.

"No point in dancing around it, sometimes people just need to hear it as it is." She defended herself, Josh smirked a little and finally got her some food.

"Cereal alright?" She nodded, he got out two bowls and filled them with a chocolatey cereal; he handed her one and a spoon and they both ate in a contented silence. Quinn hadn't realised just how hungry she was, that bowl of cereal was the most delicious thing she could remember eating in a while.

Once she'd finished she glanced at Josh, so he felt guilty, just like she did and apparently he was having just as much trouble dealing with it. While she couldn't help herself right now, she might be able to help him at least. "So, you gonna call Chris then or what?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

"You never give up." He complained with a groan, "Fine, I'll call him." Quinn smiled triumphantly and from the corner of the eye she saw Josh smile as well.


	9. Friendship

**A/N: The last chapter, this one and the next one I _really_ struggled to write. After all the action at the beginning it all seems a but underwhelming...but they are necessary for the next section that I'm building up to so I'll soldier on! It all has a purpose...plus they're just things that kind of need to be mentioned regardless of where the story's going.**

 **Oooo also thank you to the guest-reviewer who cleared up the letter box/mailbox issue! I'll just have to find a way round that then :)**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

Manic cackling filled her ears.

 _Feel good._

From the corner of her eye she saw the bedroom door open, but she didn't bother to look up as she knew who it was; she just kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling fan.

 _Feel good._

Sure enough she felt a weight on the bed beside her and the earphones were pulled from her ears.

 _Feel g-_

"Hey! What was that for?" Quinn grumbled, finally looking at the person who had invaded her peaceful bubble.

"What, no 'hi Josh how are you?'? You wound me!" Josh grimaced at her mockingly and Quinn sat up, rolling her eyes.

"Hey Josh, how are ya'?!" She asked in an overly bubbly, cheerful voice. He just laughed at her and she settled back comfortably into the pillows. He had just got back from another session with Dr Hill but oddly enough he seemed fairly upbeat about it all, though she suspected that was because he was finally going to see Chris. "Shouldn't you be off to see the other misfits?" Josh had arranged to meet _everyone_ and 'clear the air', and god only knew that the air needed clearing; it was positively _stale_.

"Yepp." He nodded, "I'm pretty much ready, I came back for something but…aren't you a little under-dressed?" He eyed her lounge-wear with a critical eye and a smile, but Quinn only frowned.

"Not for the day of eating, lounging and moping I had planned, no." She replied.

"Oh didn't I tell you Quinoa? There's been a change of plan, you're coming with me." Josh smirked at her and quickly made his way to the door before Quinn could crawl off the bed and reach him, "I'll wait for you downstairs!" And he quickly made his exit.

"Oh for god's sake." She flopped back onto the bed and huffed. Not that she had any real issue with going she just felt she didn't really serve any purpose in being there; half of them didn't know her and she sure as hell didn't need an apology from him. With one final sigh she got up and headed over to the drawer she'd commandeered for her clothes and got dressed. The past week had flown by and as the only two people in the house under the age of 40, Quinn and Josh had consequently spent most of their time together; both using each other to take their minds off their less-than-perfect situations. It was a bond formed from necessity; however it was pure luck that they got along like a house on fire. Having both suffered extreme loss and having people tread on egg-shells around them it was nice not to have to do it when they were together, they could behave normally…or at least as normally as the current situation would allow. Quinn got changed and gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror, "Well Quinn you're looking mighty…acceptable." She gave her reflection a curt nod and vacated the room to re-join Josh downstairs. "You know I think I'm gonna have to get some new clothes if I'm here much longer…"

"Tired of living in vests, jumpers and cargo-pants?" Josh enquired with a grin as they left the house.

"Like I could ever, may not look fancy but I'm always comfortable." Josh rolled his eyes at her pragmatic response, "So where're we heading Chief?" She stuffed her hands into her pockets and easily fell into stride beside him.

"Some café, Sam picked it out."

"Riiiight…and just _why_ am I coming?" She gave him a pointed look and he responded with a slightly sheepish smile.

"Well firstly, because if this all goes to hell I'm gonna need your womanly bosom to cry into." Quinn snorted and shook her head, "And secondly because they wanted to see you, Chris _specifically_ asked if you were coming." Josh gave her a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows and she ignored it.

"Not sure how much help I'm going to be on the bosom front but I'll do my best." She didn't bother responding to the latter comment; it just felt… _odd_ that they'd want to see her, Quinn was well aware she didn't exactly possess a winning personality. "So…they picked a café because…?"

"Well you know, it's…open and…we can get drinks." Josh looked away suspiciously and Quinn clicked her tongue in understanding.

"Ohh, I get it, they didn't want to be trapped at your house with your crazy ass huh?" He glared at her but she only shot him a winsome smile in return.

" _Yeah_ , thanks. Ugh this is gonna be so…"

"Painful? Awkward? Possibly violent?" Quinn listed off some possibilities and Josh groaned in frustration.

"You know _Quinoa_ , you're really not helping." They stopped outside a random café and entered, Quinn hadn't a clue where they were, she'd barely been outside since her arrival.

"Well sorry _Chief,_ I don't know what to tell you." Quinn shrugged and eyed the fancy menu in distaste, "I'm not a helpful girl."

"Our history paints a bit of a different picture." He smirked at her and she smiled begrudgingly. They ordered drinks and looked around for a table large enough to seat everyone; eventually spying one right at the back, round a corner. "This'll do…"

"I dunno Josh…I'm all for privacy but this is just a little _too_ private." She eyed the area cautiously.

"They're coming to talk, not shoot me."

"As far as _you_ know." Josh sighed as he took a seat, and Quinn sat beside him and sipped at her hot chocolate.

"Gee, thanks." He said sarcastically; he ran a hand through his hair, looking incredibly nervous.

"Hey, just…tell them what you practised; if they accept it you can move forward, if not well…we'll tackle that if it happens." Quinn told him quietly, in an attempt to ease his discomfort. Josh let out a deep breath and smiled at her as best he could.

"Yeah…yeah I will." He took a sip of his coffee and sent her a furtive look, "Just don't…go anywhere." Quinn snorted in laughter and grinned at him.

"Not going anywhere Chief."

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive; half of them were familiar faces, the other half were strangers she knew of. First to arrive (possibly by design) was Sam, she greeted them with a small smile and sat beside Quinn, making small talk as they waited. Next came Mike and his elusive girlfriend Jess; who even in her battered and bruised state was still exceedingly pretty and blonde. Mike introduced them and while Jess appeared a little standoffish upon first meeting, she became a little more relaxed as they chatted and waited for the others to arrive. Then there came Matt, a mild mannered Jock, followed by Emily; Quinn decided almost on sight she disliked her, for though she held an air of intelligence about her is was marred by the superior expression on her face. She was certain they'd end up clashing; she was used to being alpha. Last but not least a rather sheepish looking Chris arrived, though the reason for his tardiness became evident when he practically dragged Ash to their table and sat her down as far away from Josh as possible; the watery eyed red-head clearly did not want to be there. Quinn stifled a sigh, certain there was going to be at least one of them Josh wouldn't get through to, and that that one was going to be _her_.

"Well uh, hey guys. Thanks for coming…" He sounded so nervous and awkward that Quinn cringed on his behalf. Everyone shifted in their seats and most turned towards him, though there were a couple who stared resolutely at their drinks. Quinn made sure to stare at them until they felt so uncomfortable under her glare they _had_ to look to Josh as he addressed them. It was times like these that her less-than-sunny personality came in handy. "You all know why I asked you here… _obviously_ …er." Quinn had never seen Josh quite so nervous and lost for words before; in the short time she had known him he had always seemed fairly confident if nothing else. It was painful to watch him struggle and she wanted to help, but was at a loss as to what she could do. What did normal people do when they were trying to comfort and encourage a friend? What had _Stuart_ done with her?...Quinn tentatively reached towards him and awkwardly placed what she _hoped_ to be a comforting hand on his shoulder; he turned to her in mild surprise but soon smiled and patted her hand before continuing, stumbling over his words less but seeming oddly _more_ flustered. "I wanted to ask you all here to apologise. What I did was…beyond shitty, _super_ shitty…" He ran a hand through his hair, "And none of you deserved it, I wasn't in a good place and I'm…much better now." Everyone was watching him very intently now. "I know an apology doesn't cut it but I swear I'm gonna try make it up to all of you if you'll let me."

A silence followed Josh's peace offering in which no one spoke; it was part thoughtful, part uncertain. Josh looked at Quinn who tried to give him a reassuring smile, though in all honesty she wasn't certain how his apology had gone down; no one way giving anything away. She hoped they'd forgive him, or at least give him a chance, he needed this off his mind so he could put all his energy into his recovery. "Man…In fairness you didn't even do nothing to half of us." Mike piped up at last, "I can forgive you…though I don't think I'll be holidaying up in the mountains any time soon." He added the last part as a joke, a bad one, but a joke none-the-less. Quinn at least humoured him with a smile.

"Thanks man…" Josh seemed a little relieved, having received his first response.

"I…agree with Mike." Jess said, sweeping a few stray blonde strands from her bruised face. "I just want to forget all the fucked up shit that happened up there." She shuddered and Mike wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, "Stuff that wasn't your fault." She added, looking at Josh and giving him the tiniest of smiles.

"Yeah I can't believe I'm agreeing with… _them,_ but it's true. You didn't do anything to me Josh, _you_ didn't try shoot me." Emily gave Mike and Ash a very pointed look, Ash had the decency to look down but Mike looked back at her in aggravation.

"You can't still be mad at that Em! You were bitten for gods sake, we thought you were gonna turn into one of those things!" Quinn suddenly sat upright in her seat.

"Oh man you watch too many movies!" She snorted, "Zombie rules don't apply with Wendigo's." She shook her head in a pitying manner and Emily turned to Mike with a reaffirmed aura of superiority.

"We didn't know how that crazy shit worked!" He defended.

"My pops didn't tell you?" Quinn asked in genuine surprise, Mike opened his mouth again but upon seeing Josh's face Quinn sighed, "Sorry, sorry, off topic. Continue." She waved at the rest of the table and took another sip off hot chocolate, trying to ignore the fact Mike almost shot his ex in the face based on 'zombie rules'. When no one volunteered, Quinn took things into her own hands, "Matt how you feeling about crazy eyes here?" She asked him directly; speeding up the process.

Matt jumped at being addressed directly, while Josh gave Quinn a _very_ dirty look at being referred to as 'crazy eyes'. "Oh well I-I, yeah, I forgive you too…same at these guys." He hastily motioned the previous three who had spoken and Quinn smiled happily at him. The three who remained were the ones Quinn was interested in; the ones who Josh's meltdown had directly affected.

"Bro…I was mad at you, I'm not gonna lie." Chris sighed, Josh turned to him looking insanely hopeful; of course he did, Chris was his best friend. "But the week I thought you were lost for good was…the worst week of my life." Chris inhaled deeply, "When the crazy British chick forced her way into my apartment and told me she was going to save you…man, I _forced her_ to take me with her because there was no way I could leave you up there." The air between Josh and Chris had turned incredibly emotional, and Quinn actually turned away to sip her drink, slightly embarrassed; she didn't even snort at being referred to as 'the crazy British chick'. "I guess…what I'm trying to say – and poorly – is that I forgive you man." They gripped forearms across the table in a 'manly' fashion.

"Cochise…"

Ash suddenly jumped to her feet, gazing at Chris is disbelief. "Chris…a-are you s _erious?_ " She asked with a shake of her head, "He tortured us! He knocked us out and filmed it, he-he _punched me Chris_!"

"In fairness you did stab him Princess." Quinn butted in, "If you stabbed me I'd do worse than punch you." She sipped her drink nonchalantly but once again she felt Josh's disapproving gaze. "Sorry, sorry." Damn these people were sensitive.

"I can't do this. I can't." Ash grabbed her bag and left the café quickly, Chris stared after her, torn.

"Go after her Chris." Chris turned to face Josh, mouth open in protest but Josh cut him off. "It's cool, she needs you more than I do right now…I'm in good hands." He nodded at Quinn and she raised a brow at him.

" _Good hands_?" She murmured incredulously.

"Thanks bro, I'll text you later!" Chris stood, waving his goodbyes to everyone else and quickly set off after Ash. That left only one person at the table who hadn't had their say…all remaining eyes fell on Sam and she sighed uncomfortably.

"Look Josh, I know you weren't yourself when you _pranked_ us, but I just…" The blonde suddenly stopped herself and shook her head, when she looked back at Josh she made herself smile. "I'll try move past this is you will." The smile that graced Josh's face was so big Quinn feared his face may split.

"Thanks…you have no idea how much this means to me." He sunk back into his seat looking beyond relieved. Quinn also found herself relaxing, she hadn't realised how tense the entire situation had made _her_.

"Well this has been g _reat_ but I have to go. You know, places to be, people to see." Emily rose from her seat and took her latte to-go with her, " _Ciao_." She grabbed her blue purse and left, though no one seemed particularly bothered by her departure.

"I better go too, I have practice; c'ya guys…ah it was…nice meeting you Quinn." Matt stood and nodded to Quinn, who nodded back in surprise, before he too departed. _So polite_.

"Well…that went a whole lot better than planned." Quinn laughed a little and Josh turned to her with a smile.

"You're telling me, man for a second I thought everyone was just gonna…well never mind." He shook his head and Quinn messed up his hair, like he was a small adorable child. To her he was _one_ of those at least.

"Hey Quinn, do you have a cell?" Sam suddenly asked her.

"Ah I do, though I don't think it'll work properly here. I'll need to get a new sim…" She scratched her head thoughtfully.

"Well when you do, text me your number." Sam reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper with her own number on. Quinn looked from the paper to Sam, her smile growing.

"Did you prepare this in advance for me?" She asked in amusement.

"Well, I…." Sam looked a little embarrassed before she sighed, "Yes." Quinn laughed and folded the paper back up to put in her pocket.

"Thanks Sam, you'll be the first person I text." Quinn winked at her and Sam smiled back. The atmosphere around the table settled down and before long was very amiable, everyone chatted and sipped at their drinks; happy and at ease. Quinn turned to see Josh was staring at her, smiling, she sent him a questioning smile in return and rolled her eyes when he winked at her. Everything was settled and they could all move forward with their lives with no more foreseeable bumps in the road…right?

Wrong.

Very, very wrong.


	10. Attachment

**A/N: At last we're at the start of another little plot arc, huzzah! So I wouldn't exactly say shit's about to hit the fan but we're definitely about to hit a bump; unfortunately I'm almost caught up posting wise to what I've actually written so updates will be slower, sorry but I'll do my best.**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

Life had settled into a strange, semi-peaceful state of normality for Quinn, and for the first time in what seemed like a long time she was content. After Josh's little gathering a few weeks previously his group of friends had warmed up to him again, and Quinn as well – though he was by no means completely forgiven. Ash in particular still hadn't forgiven him, or even spoken to him since they'd all met up. Life as Josh's 'secret' roommate (secret because she wasn't entirely certain whether or not the Washington's knew she was sharing his room) was surprisingly fun; he was no Stuart but that just made things better, she didn't want another Stuart, Josh was…perfect just being Josh. Quinn had soon discovered she had the same phone as him, so she'd borrowed his charger, got a new sim and text Sam as soon as everything had been set up; Sam had been very quick to respond. In fact Quinn was surprised to find that before long nearly all of them seemed to have her number somehow. "Texting Sam again?" Josh asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Yepp." She nodded, "Never been this popular in my life." Josh grinned at her and she grimaced at her phone, "But she wants me to go shopping with her."

"Not keen?" He asked.

"You may not have realised this, but I'm not exactly the kind of girl who goes clothes shopping with others girls very often." She sighed, she heard Josh laugh and turned to glare at him while he cleared his throat and pretended _not_ to laugh at the thought of her shopping.

"No I er, definitely got that impression." She huffed, but his smile was infectious and she found herself smiling back before long. "Honestly Sam isn't big on that kind of stuff either, she probably just wants to spend some time with you before…" He trailed off and Quinn chewed on her lip, they hadn't really discussed her leaving. Obviously they'd have to at some point, and fairly soon since Quinn's ribs were almost perfectly healed and she had a lot of stuff to sort out back home…but she didn't really want to. And evidently neither did he.

"I suppose I could go." She said begrudgingly, "You were right, I can't live in vests, shorts and cargo pants forever." Josh flopped back on the bed and rested his arm over his eyes.

"You won't hear any complaints from me, but I guess…" Quinn rolled her eyes and hit him with a pillow, "I could go with you." Quinn frowned and turned back to look at him.

"You really want to spend hours shopping for girls clothes with me and Sam?"

"…no." He sighed, Quinn smirked at him as he peaked at her from under his arm.

"I thought as much." She hopped off the end of the bed and texted Sam back agreeing to meet her, "Aww don't look so down Chief, I'm with you all day every day!" She grinned at him as she grabbed her jacket and he peaked out from under his arm. "You'll be getting sick of me soon. I'll see you later." Quinn left and Josh heaved an almighty sigh, sitting up and staring at the door she had left through.

"I don't think that'll be happening."

* * *

Following the directions Sam had sent her, she managed to find the blonde with relative ease; though much to her surprise she wasn't the only blonde waiting for her. "Hey Sam and…Jess?" She raised a brow and Sam gave her an almost apologetic look.

"Hey Quinn, Jess…saw the text I sent you about shopping and well…"

"I decided to join you since I know both of you will make god awful outfit choices." Jess finished, as she did she eyed Quinn's choice of clothing critically, "If _this_ little number is anything to go by, looks like I was right." Quinn opened her mouth to contradict her, but she knew she had a point.

"…fair enough." She shrugged, Sam looked surprised at her lack-lustre response and Jess clapped her hands together happily.

"Great, let's get started…firstly no more cargo pants!" Quinn let out the first of _many_ long suffering sighs and allowed herself to be dragged from shop to shop and have various frilly, impractical garments pressed up against her petite frame. "You're pretty small on top so you could probably pull of frills…" Jess frowned holding up a ruffled purple crop top. "What'd you think Sam?"

"Yeah. What do you think Sam?" Quinn mimicked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…think no matter what we put you in you'll look adorable!" Sam danced around the question beautifully and Quinn was about to snort when she added, "And Josh will like it regardless." She started choking and Jess smirked at her reaction.

"Yeah, good point." She snickered.

"What does he have to do with this?! I'm shopping because I've been living in the same clothes for weeks now." Quinn sniffed defensively, "I'm not doing it for crazy-eyes." Sam tried not to smile, but Jess took no such measures; she was openly grinning.

"Whatever you say, _dear Quinoa_." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"So we have nicknames! So do he and Chris and no one thinks they're a thing…and they're _incredibly_ affectionate with each other come to think of it." Quinn frowned thoughtfully, she glanced at Sam who mirrored her expression before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right actually…"

"Like I said, w _hatever_." Jess shook her head, "Anyway I think this would look great on you…with some _super tight_ jeans and a pair of boots…"

"I do like boots." Quinn caved with a sigh. She ended up buying several things she would never in a million years have considered had she been by herself or with Stuart, but, in the words of Sam after Quinn was forced into a pair of yoga pants: 'that's what friends are for!'. Jess left them after receiving a text from Mike asking to 'meet up'; several air kisses later and the two girls found themselves in a little café tucked away off the main road. "This place is…cosy." Quinn commented idly, ducking under a low hanging curtain and sitting at a tiny round table.

"Mmmmm, yeah, I've not been here in a while actually…it's one of my favourites though." The café was specifically vegan, much to Quinn's distaste, but she voiced no complaints as to be polite to Sam.

"How come you've not been recently?" She asked conversationally, Sam suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Well…this was mine and Hannah's place actually." She admitted, "I've not really wanted to come much since…and a lot of the shops we visited today were our old haunts…" She trailed off and looked away for a moment, "But I dunno, I felt ok about coming here with you." Sam suddenly looked up at Quinn with a smile. "I hope you don't mind."

What Quinn wanted to say was that she did mind. She wasn't certain why, but something about the situation rubbed her the wrong way and made her slightly uncomfortable; she had a real _thing_ about filling in for someone else. Instead she just smiled primly back at her and said, "No, of course not." And sipped at her soy hot chocolate. Dammit she hated soy.

* * *

When Quinn got back to the Washington's she was still slightly uneasy about the events that had transpired with Sam; why had she taken her to all the places she had gone with Hannah? She shook her head tiredly, maybe she was just overthinking it and Sam had just wanted to share a piece of her past with her. Opening the door to Josh's room she found him laid in bed pretty much exactly where she had left him several hours earlier; the sight of him sprawled there made her smile. "Ah Quinoa you're just in time, sit!" He sat up and patted the bed next to him with a grin.

Quinn smiled and shook her head as she walked over, "Have you even moved since I left?" She asked as she kicked off her shoes and flopped beside him.

"Of course." She snorted in disbelief, "Hey I have! Not much, granted, but I _have_." Quinn laughed and looked to the TV.

"What's on?"

"Ah right yeah, Lord of the Rings marathon! You missed The Fellowship but you're just in time for Two Towers." He grinned at her happily and she mirrored it.

"Sweet I love Lord of the Rings!" She sat up and propped up the pillows behind her, "I have all the uncut extended editions back home; many a day were spent watching those bad boys."

"A girl after my own heart." They both turned to the TV and Josh turned the sound up; she hadn't missed much at all. "These aren't the uncut versions but they'll do." She nodded in agreement and sighed in contentment; this was much preferable to the weird day of shopping and 'reminiscing' she'd spent with Sam and Jess.

Quinn suddenly jumped as Josh draped his arm around her shoulders lazily and continued watching TV like it was nothing. "Uh…Chief?"

"Mmmm?"

"What're you doing?" He still didn't look at her, he just sighed.

"Come on Quinn, you're going soon." His voice was quiet as he spoke, "I won't get much more of this, just humour me." Quinn closed her mouth and gazed at him, it was the first time he'd actually acknowledged she'd be leaving out-loud. She sighed and awkwardly settled into his one armed embrace; before long she was resting her head on his shoulder and his grip on her was a little tighter.

A knock on the door half way through the film made the two of the jump, and Quinn – slightly flustered - tried to shimmy away from his grip, only to succeed in falling off the edge of the bed. "It's only me I – oh, Quinn dear are you alright?" Mrs Washington entered the room and looked towards Quinn in concern. Josh stifled a laugh as she quickly got to her feet and sat back on the bed, attempting to appear unruffled.

"Fine, fine Mrs W." She hastily brushed her hair from her face and smiled up at her.

"Well then, I just came up to tell you dinner's ready."

"Already? It's a bit early isn't it?" Josh frowned, glancing at the digital clock on is bedside table.

" _You_ have appointment with Dr Hill at 6, don't forget." Mrs Washington reminded him before leaving the room again, Josh groaned and laid back.

"You forgot didn't you?" Quinn asked, he nodded. "So much for a Lord of the Rings marathon." She sighed.

"Hey _you_ missed the first one! Anyway, Return of the King doesn't start till…" He quickly checked the TV guide, "7:20, I should be back by then…hopefully." He got up and turned the TV off; Quinn sighed again sulkily, but she too stood up. Two Towers was her favourite of the three.

"You better be." They both headed for the door.

"It's a date!" Quinn sent him a level gaze.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far." She said as she left, "Just two friends…arranging to watch a film together."

"In bed." He added mischievously.

She sighed in aggravation to hide her smile, "Yes in bed." She conceded.

"Good enough for me." He shrugged, closing the door behind him, "At this point I'll take what I can get." He sighed dramatically; Quinn's snorts of laughter echoed down the hall.

* * *

It was unusual that everyone sat around the table and ate together, both the Washington's were busy people; Mr Washington in particular had a rather hectic schedule. Yet there they all were sat together having dinner; Quinn found the whole 'family vibe' rather odd to say the least. So much had happened since the Washington's had taken her in…almost like an adoptive family? No…not quite that, that'd make Josh her _brother_ ; the very idea made her cringe, Josh was nothing like a brother to her! That would be _all kinds_ of wrong. Leaving them would be difficult, she'd formed too many ties there, going from living with Josh and being round him practically 24/7 to flying home and being alone in her apartment…an apartment that was still full of Stuarts stuff…the thought was a little nauseating.

"Are you alright Quinn?" Mrs Washington's voice snapped her from her thoughts, she realised all the Washington's were staring at her.

"You've been chewing your spoon for a while…" Josh added. She hastily removed the spoon from her mouth with a sheepish smile.

"I'm fine, just…thinking of all the stuff that'll need sorting once I get back." She scratched her head thoughtfully when something occurred to her, "Hey Mrs W, back when we were in the Hospital near Blackwood the police were hounding me about all the, er, _equipment_ I had with me…" Quinn frowned, "How come they never pursued it? I was certain I was going to get into _some_ sort of trouble for running about with a duffle bag full of guns and a homemade flamethrower." Mrs W laughed and brushed Quinn's question off.

"Oh, not to worry, I sorted that little issue out straight away. The police were…gently encouraged to close the case and not take things any further." Though her smile was bright and cheerful there was a hidden threat behind her words; not aimed at Quinn, of course.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed by the influence Josh's parents held. "I see…thanks."

"Not a problem, you're the reason we were able to close the case in the first place, we couldn't allow the police to _charge y_ ou with anything." Mrs Washington suddenly glanced at the clock, "Oh Joshua you better be going now; you wouldn't want to keep Dr Hill waiting."

"No you're right I wouldn't." Josh stood with a shudder, "See you later Quinoa."

"Don't be late Chief." He messed up her hair affectionately with a smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Josh quickly left so a driver could take him to Dr Hill's office. Turning back Quinn noticed that both the Washington's were staring at her; Mrs Washington with a soft smile and Mr Washington with a furrowed brow.

"Uhhhh, something on my face?" She asked uncertainly.

"No, no of course not dear, nothing at all." They continued to stare and Quinn stood uncomfortably, she grabbed hers and Josh's plate since they were empty.

"I'll…wash these up then." She mumbled, walking away.

"You are a dear."

She took both the plates into the kitchen and began washing up; she hated washing up but anything was preferable to being stares at by adults who should know better. It wasn't just that they were staring, it was that when they were caught staring they didn't look away; that had always creeped Quinn out. How do you even handle those kind of people? The kind that know no shame. Sighing she dried off the dishes and put them away, it was strange how well she'd come to know the kitchen; like it was her own. Although hers had been considerably smaller. Now she'd have to find a way to kill time before Josh got back…

Deciding the best thing to do was to go back to his room and watch the end of Two Towers she quietly left the Washington's kitchen and made her way back to the staircase. Before she could reach it, raised voices coming from the dining room caught her attention and while Quinn wasn't a _snoop_ , she was curious, so she ventured closer hoping to overhear something. "What are you doing Laura?" Mr Washington's was the first voice she heard, deep and resonating; Quinn chewed her lip, to her knowledge they weren't a couple who often fought. "This girl – Quinn – isn't Hannah or Beth!" Quinn froze at the mention of her name and held her breath. They were arguing about her? "She isn't even family! What, are you trying use her as some sort of replacement? Is that it?" A stony silence followed his question, before he carried on, "I won't have _any_ part of it Laura, our girls aren't coming back and _no one_ can take their place!"

And just like that, the illusion of the past few weeks was shattered.


	11. Disillusioned

**A/N: Firstly thank you to all the people who follow/favourite this story, I get so excited when I check my emails to see new names! Quick heads up, this does flit back and forth between Quinn and Josh quite a bit, but it shouldn't be confusing to read. As much as I enjoy writing this I'm not entirely fixed on an ending...I'm hoping when it gets nearer the time I'll be hit in the face with a wave of artistic inspiration.**

 **Until then however, _enjoy_.**

* * *

Heart pounding wildly in her chest, Quinn slid down the wall slightly with the scathing words Mr Washington had just shouted at his wife still ringing in her ears. _What are you doing Laura? This girl – Quinn – isn't Hannah_ _ **or**_ _Beth! She isn't family! What, are you trying to use her as some sort of replacement? Is that is?_ Of course Quinn knew all that was true, _of course_ she knew she wasn't family – heck she felt comfortable around them, but not that comfortable. So…why did hearing it hurt so much? Why had she waiting so desperately for Mrs Washington to contradict her husband and tell him that he was wrong, that Quinn wasn't some sort of replacement. She shook her head and quickly made her way back up to her room – _to Josh's room_ , this _wasn't_ her house.

Honestly, she was certain how she'd react if she was confronted by anyone right now; thankfully Josh was with Dr Hill and still would be for a while…she just had to collect her thoughts and compose herself. If there was one thing Quinn was good at it was _composing_ herself in difficult situations.

She made it up to his room, closed the door behind her and climbed into bed; safe haven in a world slowly going mad. The more she thought about it, the more 'reality' chipped away at the happy illusion she'd painted for herself over the past few weeks; after all she had been beginning to suspect Sam might be trying to make up for the loss of Hannah with _her_. Down that morose train of thought is when something hit her right in the face like a brick – what if Josh was doing the same thing? What if _Josh_ was also using her in a similar capacity? The thought both hurt and nauseated her at the same time; it _really fucking hurt_. "Chill out Quinn, chill out…" She took a deep breath and chewed her lip; now what was she supposed to do?

* * *

Josh was glad to be home at last, as well as his sessions with Dr Hill were going, the guy still gave him the creeps – even when he was pleased with the progress they were making. At least, Josh _assumed_ he was pleased, he was never entirely certain what was going through the docs head. He closed the door gently behind him and made his way towards the staircase; checking his phone he saw it was just after 7:30, he'd just missed the beginning of The Return of the King, but hopefully not _too_ much. Quinn would be already watching it no doubt. As he ascended the stairs he noticed his mother was in the living room by herself, she was just stood staring at the fireplace and Josh paused mid-step. "Mom?" She jumped a little at his voice and turned; she didn't look…right.

"Oh Joshua you're back? I didn't hear you come in…" Her voice sounded a little strange, but she smiled brightly at him, "How was it?" The hopeful look on her face caused his question of concern to die on his lips, instead he smiled back.

"Pretty good…Dr Hill seems happy." At that his mother tilted her head.

"That's good, that's good…are you?" Her voice was soft.

"Am I…happy?" She nodded and Josh frowned, it was an odd thing for her to be asking really, but the more he thought about it the more he realised he actually _was_ – that was even more odd.

"Yeah, I am." They exchanged another smile before Josh remembered he was missing the film, "Ah, I gotta go – promised to watch something with Quinn tonight. Night mom." Had he lingered a little longer on the staircase he would have noticed the look that crossed her face at the mention of Quinn's name; as it was he didn't, and she didn't have the heart to call after him. However upon entering his room he was greeted neither by the blaring sound of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, nor the sight of Quinn sitting eagerly on the end of his bed watching it. Instead, when he opened the door he saw the TV was off and that Quinn appeared to be asleep; he raised an eyebrow, suddenly his mother's oddness from just before was thrust to the forefront of his mind. Had something happened? He could just wake her and ask but…she seemed so peaceful for once, she wasn't thrashing about in the thrall of some nightmare; he couldn't wake her to ask if 'something' was wrong.

So instead, Josh just grabbed some pillows and placed them down the middle of the bed as a make-shift divider as he often did to separate them – and make things a little less weird – and quietly crawled beside her. Removing his iPod and keys from his pocket and placing them on the table, he pressed the power button on the remote and watched as the TV flickered to life; he turned to the channel the film was on and turned the volume down as not to wake sleeping beauty, though it wasn't as much fun to watch by himself. _Beth had loved these films_. He quickly shook his head and carried on watching it, settling into his surroundings properly so he was comfortable; it wasn't long before Josh too was also fast asleep.

* * *

Quinn was awake.

Originally she had intended on sleeping, to avoid having to talk to Josh once he got in, but with her head in its current destructive state there was no way in hell she was sleeping. When Josh had got back she'd kept her breathing as even as possible and waiting for him to inevitably fall asleep instead, once he had she let out a sigh of relief and once again focussed on fretting about life. After weeks of thinking everything was getting back to some form of normality, she was now right back where she started after Stuarts death – alone and a wreck.

All alone in the big bad world.

All alone.

All…alone?

As the thought hit her she almost sat bolt upright in bed; it was a long shot there was no doubt about it, but it was a shot she needed to take. There was no way she could stay here now knowing she was simply filling someone else's shoes, not when she had grown so fond of everyone; she _would not_ be anyone's replacement. Quietly, Quinn slipped out of bed and got her duffle bag, she filled it with necessities and quickly changed into something warmer; shorts and a vest just wouldn't cut it where she was headed. She removed her boots from Josh's wardrobe but didn't put them on, there was no way she'd be able to sneak around the house in docs.

Quinn grabbed the bag and tiptoed her way around the bed and headed towards the door, though she couldn't help but spare a glance at Josh as she went past. He looked…peaceful, more peaceful than he did when he was awake – he was better but Quinn couldn't help but feel there was still something he wasn't letting go of. Shaking her head, she turned back around and went to open the door. "Qui…" Her hand froze on the handle and she glanced furtively over her shoulder; he was still sound asleep. Quinn couldn't help but waver in the doorway, her resolve from before no longer as strong. That had sounded very much like her name…was he dreaming about her? The thought was oddly thrilling and she let her hand fall from the handle as she turned fully towards his sleeping form. "Qui…Hannah! Beth…" Any hope she previously had vanished; she felt deflated.

"Really?" She hissed angrily, she strode over to where he slept and silently fumed at him; she couldn't wake him, he'd only get in the way of her escape but she was _angry_. Instead she spied his iPod and earphones innocently gazing at her from his bed-side table and in a moment of pure spite she swiped them as well as his keys and triumphantly glared at him. It wasn't _stealing_ ; she was _obviously_ going to return them…at some point. It was just make the coach journey more pleasant. Quinn turned her back on him and once again headed for the door, only this time she went through it and closed it firmly behind her. "Goodbye Joshua Washington." But she wasn't done yet; she had one more stop before she departed from their household – Mr Washington's 'study'.

Mr Washington's study held a very certain appeal, and Quinn hoped to god that the elder Washington had retired to bed as explaining her presence there would be damn near impossible. Taking a deep breath she rapped on the door lightly and waiting for a response, when none came she let herself in. The study was large and nicely decorated, just like the rest of the house, but Quinn was in too much of a rush to appreciate her surroundings; she quickly searched in in desk drawers but found nothing. Not what she was looking for anyway. "Christ, come on Grizzly…" She sighed. Spying a cabinet nearby, she made her way over to it and opened it up. "Jackpot." A grin stretched across her face as she eyed the guns in front of her, there were more than enough to keep her company and she was certain Mr Washington wouldn't miss them. Quinn grabbed a couple of them and stuffed them into the false bottom of her duffle bag, she then closed everything back up and made her way downstairs so she could lace up her boots and leave. The alarm hadn't be put on yet, which meant someone was still up, she quickly used Josh's keys she unlock the front door and slipped out again, locking it on the other side and popping the keys behind the plant pot that resided next to the door – she wasn't stealing those at least. With a heavy heart and an even heavier bag Quinn left the Washington house for what she thought would be the last time.

* * *

When Josh awoke the following morning he was blissfully unaware of the chaos that was about the follow. His first clue that something was wrong was that Quinn was not beside him, "Quinoa?" He called out, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "Quinn?" He frowned and looked around his room for any sign of the ill-tempered little brunette. His second clue was that her duffle bag was missing from the corner of the room…so was her coat…and, now he looked properly, so was his iPod. Josh rubbed his eyes again and quickly checked his phone, no new messages; how odd…she'd never left without telling him before. His third clue was that his drawer – or _her_ drawer – was wide open, and all her clothes were gone. Suddenly Josh was wide awake and on his feet, he quickly strode from his room and headed downstairs, "Mom?" His mother popped her head from around the kitchen door.

"What's wrong honey?"

"Have you seen Quinn this morning?" She frowned and shook her head, "Damn it where is she…" He followed her into the kitchen and took a seat.

"Maybe she's gone out with Sam again? I wouldn't worry about it too much." She smiled at him and suddenly made a little 'oh' face and reached into her pocket, "Before I forget…" She pulled out his house keys and placed them in front of him at the table. "I found these outside this morning, they must have fallen out of your pocket before you got in last night." Josh stared at the keys in confusion.

"No…no I took them up with me last night…they were on my table." Suddenly he froze, piecing it all together. "Shit…shit!" He shot up from the stool and ran out of the kitchen.

"Joshua what's the matter?!"His mother called after him in a panic, "Josh…?" He threw open the front door and looked about frantically, not sure of what he was hoping to see. Perhaps Quinn sat on the lawn, waiting for him with a mischievous grin on her face, ' _Gotcha Chief!'._ But alas there was nothing to see, she wasn't there.

"She's gone…" He whispered numbly, Mrs Washington gently placed a hand on her son's shoulder, unsure of what was going on.

"Who's gone Joshua?" He turned towards her, the shock on his face plain to see.

"Quinn…she's left… _me_." His voice was quiet and Mrs Washington embraced him, hiding her face over his shoulder so he wouldn't see the guilt written all over it.

* * *

 _Mmmmmmmmmmmmm._ Quinn chewed at her lip as Josh's name flashed across her mobile screen yet again and it vibrated in her hand. He'd been calling her pretty much non-stop for a while now, but she hadn't answered him; she _couldn't_. Not that he could prevent her from leaving; she was already several hours into her journey and was on a coach away from there. Quinn ignored it and un-paused the iPod again, letting the soothing sounds of Sum41 carry her away.

 _-We're running in circles again,_

 _Just as things were looking up-_

She almost laughed, _just as things were looking up_ indeed. Resting her head against the cool glass window she sighed instead, things had been going so _great_ and now everything was a mess.

 _-Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep,_

 _Up above in my head, instead of going under-_

The sensation to drowning she felt this time was different to when Stuart died; the drowning then had been a product of her own overwhelming guilt coupled with her losing her best friend, this was more confusing simply because it wasn't her fault. Quinn had genuinely felt like she _belonged_ with them, she had never been one for making friends and yet here were a group of people all of whom she connected with so easily and so quickly…she should have known it was too good to be true. _Mmmmmmmmmmmmm._ Quinn swore under her breath as her phone started going off again, "God damn it Josh…oh…" Rather than 'Josh' across her screen a new one had appeared. This time she removed her earphones and answered it. "Sam?"

"Thank god, Quinn! Where are you?! Josh had been going out of his mind!" Quinn sighed as a torrent spilled forth from Sam from the other end of the phone, "Why haven't you answered him?" She stayed silent and bit her lip, unsure of how she should answer. "…Quinn are you there?"

"I'm here Sam." She ran a hand through her hair tiredly.

"Well are you going to answer me then? We've all been freaking out!" Sam's genuine concern was audible, even to Quinn, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't move her.

"I'm…sorry. I had to get out of there."

"But _why_? I don't understand…" Sam sighed, "Just speak to Josh ok? He's in a really bad way; I think he needs to hear your voice…and maybe shout at you a little."

Quinn shook her head even as she answered, "No, I can't, I'm sorry I just can't."

"But-!"

"Look Sammy I'm _sorry_ ok? I'm not gonna answer the phone again for a while, I'll be turning it off to save battery…there's not much signal where I'm going anyway." She muttered the last part darkly, "Just tell Josh…" Quinn paused; there was a lot she wanted to tell Josh. "Tell him I'll return his iPod and his dad's guns where I get a chance ok?"

"His dad…his dads _**GUNS**_?! Jesus Quinn where are you going?!" Sam raised her voice a little hysterically over the phone, but suddenly fell silent as she realised _where_ Quinn was going, "No, Quinn you're not going back there. Please tell me you're not going back there!" She started firm but by the end she sounded desperate.

"I have to." Quinn replied simply, ignoring Sam's plea. "Something I've gotta get…I might not be alone after all, and I sure as hell am not being anyone's _replacement_." Though Quinn was half-rambling, she spat the last bit, her anger suddenly getting the better of her as she remembered _why_ she was being forced to leave.

"But Quinn-!"

"Bye Sam."

"Quinn-!" She ended the call, turned off her phone and stuffed it into her bag so she could ignore it for the rest of her trip. Rather angrily, she shoved the earphones back into her ears and settled back down into her seat.

- _So show me family,_

 _All the blood that I will bleed,_

 _I don't know where I belong,_

 _I don't know where I went wrong-_

"Oh for _fucks_ sake." She quickly ripped out the earphones and shoved the iPod in the bag as well. Apparently her life was one big joke and the entire universe was in on it; there was no comfort for her now.


	12. Motives

**A/N: Taken a little longer to upload this, life gets in the way sometimes. I used the name of a random cafe type place I found online in this chapter - no idea if it works with the context I've used it IN since I've obviously never been but...yeah. Not much Quinn in this one, as much as I love her I thought I'd focus on what's happening back in CA while she's out and about doing her thing.**

 **As always, _enjoy._**

* * *

Sam shivered nervously, "Damn it." She muttered with a tiny shake of her head, "Damn it all." She drew her coat around her tightly and quickened her pace, she was headed to the Washington's and she needed to get there as soon as possible before Josh had a complete meltdown. Again. Though she wasn't too sure how much help she would be, Chris was already there but he hadn't been able to get in touch with their missing friend as she had. Quinn's sudden, unexplained disappearance had had a surprisingly detrimental effect on his mental health; she knew they were close but she hadn't realised just _how_ close…and Sam wasn't certain he'd be any better once he found out what she knew: exactly _where_ Quinn was going. Suddenly Mike's previous words about Quinn drifted through her head, ' _That girl is bat-shit crazy.'_ Honestly, at this point in time Sam was inclined to agree with him. It was just so frustrating! Earlier that day they'd been out shopping together for crying out loud, they'd had _fun_ , Sam just couldn't understand why she'd left and her cryptic responses over the phone had been little help.

' _I might not be alone after all and I sure as hell am not being anyone's replacement.'_ Sam had gone over what Quinn had said several times but it still didn't make sense to her. She wasn't alone, she was with Josh practically 24/7…and whose replacement was she supposed to be exactly?! Sam shook her head again, more vigorously this time; evidently there was more going on beneath the surface than anyone realised, she refused to believe Quinn would just up and leave everyone – leave Josh – for no good reason. Walking up the drive she quickly took her cell from her pocket to check the time, 4:17 and another text off Chris that read 'Hurry up!' she rapped lightly on the door and was surprised by the almost instantaneous response from within. "Samantha darling, hello." A rather wild-eyed Mrs Washington answered and held open the door for her, with a forced smile. "Come in, come in…Joshua and Christopher are upstairs just go on up."

"Hi...Laura." Mrs Washington had long ago insisted that Sam refer to her by her first name, the price of growing up with her daughters and being an extension of the family – though it still didn't roll of the tongue naturally. "How's he doing?"

"I'm…not sure, he's been upstairs since this morning." Mrs Washington's smile faltered and Sam suddenly felt guilty for asking.

"Right, I guess I'll go up and see what I can do." She started for the staircase when the elder Washington stopped her.

"Samantha…have you heard from Quinn? I...I've not seen Joshua quite so distressed in a while."

"Actually I have." Sam observed Mrs Washington perk up for a moment before Sam shook her head, "I don't have good news, she wasn't in a great way when we spoke and she didn't make much sense…she just said she might not be alone and that she wasn't going to be anyone's replacement." Mrs Washington's face suddenly went rigid and she paled.

"You're sure that's what she said…?" Sam nodded, confused by her reaction, "I see…well then I've held you up long enough, go see Joshua. Oh, he has an appointment with Dr Hill at 6…see if you can convince him to go?" Sam nodded slightly and allowed herself to be shooed upstairs and quickly made a bee-line for Josh's room; she didn't bother knocking, she just let herself in.

"Hey Josh, Chirs." Josh was slumped in the middle of his bed; Chris was perched on the end gazing at him like a worried mother hen. Chris looked up at Sam as she entered and gave her a small smile, Josh however kept his gaze on the ceiling fan. She made her way across the room and sat opposite Chirs, "How're you doing?" Though she posed the question 'to the room', they all knew who it was directed at.

"Fan-fucking-tastic, thanks." Josh replied scathingly, Sam noted his wording choice was one that Quinn had been fond of.

"Sorry, stupid question…" She apologised with a frown. In truth she knew she had nothing to apologise for, but she was willing to put up with his waspish behaviour for the time being. "Well…you might be happy to know I managed to talk to Quinn." Josh sat up so quickly he almost head-butted Chris in the process.

"What?! You did? What did she say?" Sam would have laughed had the situation been more humorous…or had the news she to deliver been less depressing. She bit her lip for a second, looking from Josh's face to Chris', she could tell from the way Chris frowned he had guessed it wasn't good.

"She's sounded…" Angry? Rushed? Scattered? "A little upset, she didn't really make too much sense…" Sam wanted to gently ease into the conversation but Josh was having none of her softly-softly approach.

"For god's sake Sam what did she say?" He asked her with narrowed eyes; Sam's lips pressed into a thin line, the Washington's were _impatient_ people. Well, if he wanted to know she had no choice but to just tell him.

"Quinn said she wouldn't speak to you – more specifically that she _couldn't_ – and that she 'might not be alone', whatever that means and…that she wasn't going to be anyone's replacement." Josh's face fell and Sam wished she _had_ been a little gentler with the news.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Chris asked with a shake of his head, "She might not be alone…? She say anything to you about her having someone else?" He asked Josh and the now numb-faced adolescent shook his head.

"No…not as far as I know. Her mom died a long time ago; the only other people she talked about were her dad and Stuart…" He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "C'mon Quinn what's going through your freakin' head." Josh hopped off the bed and stalked over to the window; the other two gazed after him in concern but said nothing.

"And what about that other bit, that she wasn't going to be anyone's replacement…what was that about?" Chris asked Sam in a quieter voice, the blonde shook her head with a shrug.

"I really don't know, I was with her earlier that day and we were shopping with Jess and…everything seemed fine! I just don't get it."

"Did anything happen while you were shopping?" Chris asked.

"Not really…Jess insulted our fashion sense, forced Quinn into some tight clothes…then she left and we went to Au Lac for something to eat and drink." She recalled the events of the day, "Nothing odd, other than her willingness to let Jess dress her up like some sort of angry little doll."

"Wait isn't Au Lac that vegan place you used to go with Hannah?" Chris asked, at Sam's nod he frowned, "Why would go take her there? Doesn't seem like her kind of place."

"Well…no I guess but it was mine and Han's and…I just felt like reminiscing a bit." Sam shrugged, "I feel comfortable with her." She saw Chris frown deepened.

"You think maybe she thought you were trying to turn her into Hannah and freaked?"

"What?! No why on earth would she think that? It was just a café!" Sam jumped up and looked at him incredulously, "Quinn's too sensible to get all bent out of shape over something like that!" Her eyes suddenly darted over to Josh, who was now staring at her. "Plus if that was true then why did she answer to me but not Josh when he rang?"

"You may have a point there…" Chris sighed and Josh went back to staring out of his bedroom window. "I wonder where she went…" Sam chewed her lip, wondering whether or not she should keep that part to herself. After all Quinn never confirmed what she thought was true; plus everyone would most definitely freak out…but then again what if she went missing and everyone found out she'd been withholding information.

"Actually I think I know…" She looked between them both, "It's just a guess but…Josh she told me to tell you she'd return your iPod…"

"Well…that means she'll have to see me again right?" Josh asked, perking up once again, Sam nodded a little reluctantly.

"I suppose but…she also said she'd return your dad guns too." She stopped speaking and let what she had said set in.

"Wait…"

" _ **GUNS**_?!" Josh looked even more stressed than he previously had, "She took his guns?! Where the hell is she?!" Another silence followed and Sam waited for them to reach the same conclusion she had. "No…w-why would she?" Josh asked quietly before he slid down the wall.

"You really think she'd go back there?" Chris asked Sam.

"I don't know, but she did say where she was going had bad signal and…she's a lot tougher than we are, the Wendigo's wouldn't exactly put her off if there was something up there she really wanted." They all knew she was right, Quinn hadn't even flinched when she came face to face with the beasts; even when Stuart was killed she kept a level head and got them all out of there. "The question is _what_ she thinks is up there and _why_ she felt she had to go." The three settled into a thoughtful but strained silence, trying to digest to information they had been given.

Sam wasn't sure how long they sat there not speaking – she felt a little useless, all she had wanted to do was try and make Josh feel better…all she had achieved was making her emotionally fragile friend even more stressed and worried. Damn Quinn! Sam liked the girl but what right did she have to waltz into Josh's life, become him crutch and then suddenly just when he was starting to recover and getting strong enough to perhaps start to walk on his own disappear! – She had effectively pulled the crutch from beneath him and forced him to crawl. In all honesty she had believed Quinn was just as fond of him as he was of her…she leaned forwards and groaned in confusion. "Damn it all!"

A knock at the door startled the group and a rather unsettled looking Mrs Washington shuffled her way inside. "Sorry everyone, Joshua I wanted to remind you about your appointment at 6 with Dr Hill." Josh didn't answer her; he was still slumped on the floor. "I understand you're upset but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go – you can talk to the doctor about whatever is bothering you, that's what he's there for." She encouraged him softly.

"I'm not going." He told her firmly. Sam and Chris exchanged a look, not wishing to get in the middle of an argument but knowing it was for his own well-being that he went.

"C'mon bud, talking to him might make you feel better." Chris said.

"I'm not going."

"If…you talk through it with him, you might realise something you didn't see before!" Sam reasoned.

"I'm _not going_." He growled; Sam sighed.

"Look Josh, if Quinn were here she-!" Sam had uttered the magic words; Josh was on his feet in an instant with a mutinous look on his face.

"Yeah well she's not here is she Sam? She'd fucked off and left me, just like everyone does!" He shouted, "She's gone and she didn't even have the- the _decency_ to tell me why! Or let me know she was ok!" Sam watched him sadly as him anger bubbled over and he vented at them. Anger was better than sadness…wasn't it?

"Joshua…I think I might have an idea what sparked our guests sudden retreat." Everyone turned to Josh's mother in surprise, even Josh. Suddenly her odd countenance from the previous evening flashed into his head again – he was right, something had happened. "Last night after dinner your father and I…had an argument." Yet again Sam and Chris found themselves feeling slightly uncomfortable, as if they were intruding on family business that had nothing to do with them. "It was about Quinn."

"What about her?" Josh asked, staring directly at her. He noted the way she kept avoiding eye contact and how she wrung her hands, she was evidently feeling guilty about something.

"Your father felt that I'd been using her as a…replacement for Hannah and Beth." Josh's eyes widened. "Quinn wasn't in the room but she may have...overheard."

" _I won't be anyone's replacement_." Sam repeated the words Quinn had said to her over the phone, suddenly they made a lot more sense. Josh shook his head and made a sudden bee-line for the door; making a quick stop at his bedside table to grab keys.

"Joshua where're you going?!" His mom asked in a worried voice, as she watched him stride across the room.

"Out; need some air."

"Hey c'mon bud-!" Chris started to walk towards his but the bedroom door slammed shut after he'd gone through, and with it Josh had left a very clear message: 'don't follow me'.

* * *

Snow crunched under foot and fell overhead; the mountain once again loomed before her as formidable and beautiful as ever. Quinn sighed heavily and saw her breath appear before her in the form of a white cloud. "Probably should have packed warmer." She grumbled as she fastened her coat and threw the duffel bag over her shoulder. With a steely eyed resolve she started up the trail and desperately tried to ignore the voice in her head that was screaming she was insane, and the pain in her chest that reminded her that she'd left someone very important behind.

"Let's get this show on the road."


	13. Goals

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! They gave me the motivation I needed to get this chapter written/posted a lot quicker than the last one. I'm glad people still seem to be enjoying it, even though it's veered waaaay past the original story description. Just a heads up, lots of POV flitting in this one again; mainly from Josh to Quinn but I also added a little Dr Hill too since we haven't seen him yet.**

 **Chloe my dear lurker, I believe your question will be answered in this chapter!**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

It was colder than Quinn remembered it being, she supposed that was the price she had to pay for spending the past few weeks in a considerably warmer climate. As she trudged back up that god forsaken mountain two things crossed her mind; one, she hoped that it wasn't a wasted journey and two, she re _ally_ hoped she had enough ammo. Granted the number of wendigo's should have been considerably depleted after all their not-so-accidental deaths, but she knew there were at least three still kicking about in the mines. Although the mines wasn't where she was heading; there was nothing in the mines worth going back for. "Hopefully all the police should be gone by now…" There wasn't much reason for them to still be there…other than all the ones who must still be considered missing - if they hadn't found their corpses already. That was sure to raise more questions.

Her journey up was unimpeded, other than the wildlife the mountain was deserted; much to her relief. Quinn's state of mind still wasn't quite as it should be and the last thing she needed was the added stress of having to dodge and duck around officials…she idly wondered how Josh was doing without her, if Sam had told him were she was and if he was worried…

"No, no, no, no! No Josh, No Sam, no distractions." She shook her head viciously and took a deep breath, "Focus Willow…Quinn…ugh." Groaning, she leaned against a nearby tree and attempted to compose herself by repeated hitting her forehead on the bark. She had done so well living in denial for the past few hours, then one stray thought about Josh and POW, it was all for nothing. "Stupid crazy git." She muttered angrily. _'Y'know…talking to yourself is the first sign of madness?'_ Quinn snorted in laughter for a moment before she remembered where she was and _why_ she was there. "Well if talking to myself isn't a sure sign I've lost it, then hearing fucking voices probably is...especially yours." She shook her head lightly, a bitter smile tugging at her lips, "Oh dear Quinn, what happened to you?"

But she soldiered on, as she always did; such were the trails of a hunter.

* * *

Furious.

Joshua Washington had gone from confused, to distressed, to annoyed, to downright _furious_. His own mother had been using Quinn as some sort of surrogate for his sisters? It was just _wrong!_ Never once had he thought of her like that! Thinking of her as his sister…well, that would have been even _more_ wrong. But why wouldn't she speak to _him?_ He could understand her being upset having overheard that but…what had _he_ done?! It was just so _damn_ frustrating.

"Umm…excuse me, Mr Washington?" A soft voice called out to him and pulled him from his thoughts; he recognised the owner of the voice, it was Dr Hills secretary, Alex. "Are you going to come inside? You've been stood there looking rather ah – _vexed_ for a little while now." Josh finally looked at his surroundings and found himself stood outside Dr Hills office. Unbeknownst to him, his feet had led him to the one place in the city he was adamant he wouldn't go. "Mr Washington?"

"Ah, er…Umm…" He didn't know what to say. _'If Quinn were here…'_ he groaned inwardly at Sam's words; Quinn wasn't even present and she was still somehow managing to boss him around. "Yeah, sure I'm coming." Stuffing his hands into his pockets he awkwardly shuffled past Alex and into the waiting room. The clock on the wall opposite where he chose to slouch read 5:45; how long had he been walking? He quickly checked his phone, no missed calls; there was just a lone text from Chris that read ' _I'm here when you need me.'_ "Cochise…" He sighed softly; Quinn would never realise how much she'd done for him by pushing him into repairing that particular relationship.

"Did you say something Mr Washington?" He jumped; the young secretary was gazing at him from above a tray of paper work in concern.

"N-no Alex - well yes. Just talking to myself." Inwardly Josh cringed at how he fumbled over his words. Luckily for him Alex could see that the young Washington had a lot on his mind, and after one brief smile she left him alone with his thoughts…though that might not have been the best call since his thoughts were more scattered than the pieces of corpses stuck in the mines. Immediately he paled; what a fucking macabre thought. Quinn was up there and he was thinking about corpses; well he might not see her again, those mountains were dangerous and she was – according to Sam – in a fairly distressed state. What if it affected her aim? Or her guts? Though this was _Quinn_ , he knew she was ballsy as fuck; was there anything that could affect her guts?

"Mr Washington, Dr Hill will see you now." Josh took a deep breath to centre himself, the doc was sure to know straight away that something was wrong. It was just up to Josh _how much_ the good doc knew.

* * *

The lack of wendigo presence was started to unnerve Quinn a great deal; she knew they were there somewhere, she just couldn't detect them. Nor had she been able to find her reasons for returning; however she had a sneaking suspicion they would probably be in the old sanatorium, that had been her father's base of operation after all…that's even _if_ they were still alive. They'd been stuck up there alone for a while now. In the distance she could see the sanatorium; it stood out against the white forest like a large, dark, poisonous shadow. Even though this was a place she used to know like the back of her hand, she felt nothing but dread as she approached it; probably because she knew her father wasn't inside to keep her safe. No more twisted smiles or sharp taps around the head when she was about to do something foolish.

If she wasn't getting away from there alive it would be off her own back this time; "There's no pops, there's no Mike…there's just Quinn- me, just me. God dammit don't start referring to yourself in third person."

Checking the door she found that it was unlocked, and cautiously let herself in. It was just as dark, dank and filthy as she remembered it; oddly comforting. She quickly patted herself down making sure all her weapons were in place, of course what she really wanted was her flamethrower but the stupid police had confiscated that, along with her shot-gun. Quinn opened the doors that lead to the main area and was immediately struck by a wave of nostalgia; there was no warm fire burning, no grizzled old hunter waiting for her but nevertheless it was her second home. It had been anyway, before this mess she had come to think of the Washington's as her second home.

Maybe she had overreacted…but it was too late now, she was there.

She could apologise to Josh later.

If there _was_ a later.

With one last visual sweep of the room she set off again; more determined to finish her business there as quickly as possible.

* * *

As soon as Joshua Washington entered Alan Hills office the doctor knew there was something wrong with the young man, he wore the same wild-eyed expression Alan had seen on his face the first time he had seen him. Though this time Joshua was definitely in more control of his actions than he was back then, his eyes were wild but his body language was careful and cautious. "Good evening Joshua." He greeted.

Joshua's eyes darted to the doctor, "Hi." He mumbled as he took a seat. Alan wished his patient would stop being so cagey, after all they had been having these sessions for a year now and they seemed to be helping; it wasn't necessary.

"And how are you this evening?"

"Fine." Well that was a lie; it looked like it was going to be one of _those_ evenings. "Wait, no, I'm not. I'm not fine at all – I'm confused and – and _annoyed_." Dr Hill sat up a little straighter in his seat and watched Joshua carefully, to show he was listening; it wasn't often his patient was so candid with him. "You…" He shook his head, "Remember I told you about the girl who saved me?" Joshua paused and waited for Alan to respond.

"Quinn." He replied eventually. Over the past few weeks Alan had heard a lot about the mysterious 'Quinn'; the girl who had saved his patient from his family's mountain, injuring herself in the process, and had been staying with him since. He got the impression Joshua was growing rather fond of her.

"Yeah, well, she's run away." Joshua sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "And I found out it's probably because she heard some stupid argument between my parents about her and…" He trailed off and looked to the side.

"And how does that make you feel?" Dr Hill asked; Joshua paused to briefly glare at him.

"How do you think it makes me feel? It makes me _pissed_." He growled, "Everything was great! We were happy and my mom ruined everything."

"But Joshua, you know she had to leave eventually." Dr Hill's honesty once again earned him another glare, but after all this time he was used to it. If he had a dollar for every time a patient gave him a dirty look he'd be…well, even richer than he already was.

"Not like this." He shook his head emphatically, "We were gonna spend more time together I was gonna throw her – I dunno a party or something - and then I'd ask her to stay. Or at least _come back."_ Alan was surprised Joshua had _had_ a plan in regards to her leaving. "Now she's probably in trouble all by herself and I'm stuck here…talking to you." He gave the doctor a humourless smile. Dr Hill understood why her leaving and 'possibly' being in trouble resonated so deeply with Joshua, it was similar to when his sisters had gone missing and he was powerless to help them. The young man had blamed himself endlessly for that; but Josuha Washington was not powerless, and Alan wanted him to realise that.

"Joshua, what you have presented me with so far are problems…"

"I have a lot of those."

"How about you think of some possible solutions to these problems, rather than solely focussing on the problem itself." Joshua fell silent and suddenly looked more thoughtful than angry.

"Solutions…" He mumbled to himself, Alan could see the gears in his head grinding as they tried to come up with a pliable answer to his issues. Working through these things himself was something he was going to need to learn to do if he ever hoped to leave the doctors care. "Of course!" Joshua announced suddenly, "If Quinn's in trouble then I have to go help her." He suddenly stood, "Thanks doc, I better go pack a few things and get going." He was out of Alan's office before he even had chance to stop him and tell him that packing a bag and going after his missing friend was _not_ what he had meant.

Alan sighed and removed his glasses so he could pinch the bridge of his nose in despair; these young people were so _frustrating_.

* * *

When Josh got back to his house he was very surprised to find that Sam and Chris were still there, waiting patiently in his room. "Josh, you're back!" Chris sighed in relief, Josh felt a little guilty for not replying to his text but it had sort of…slipped his mind.

"Where've you been?" Sam asked.

He closed his door and edged over to his wardrobe, "I went to see Dr Hill." His friends exchanged a look and he rolled his eyes.

"That's good but…aren't you back a little early?" Chris looked at the clock and saw it was 6:40; Josh shrugged.

"I didn't need to stay any longer than I did; he helped me come up with a solution to this whole Quinn problem." He opened his wardrobe to look for a small bag he could take with him; he wondered if Quinn had taken _all_ his dads guns…

"He did? That's great buddy…what is it?" Chris was watching Josh as he rifled through his wardrobe with a furrowed brow, Sam had hopped off the bed and made her way over to him.

"Josh?" She lightly touched his wrist and he turned to her and saw their expectant gazes. He didn't want to tell them, they'd only try to stop him…unless he could convince them to join him; it'd be like the rescue mission they'd gone on for him only…sort of reversed.

"Look…I know this is gonna sound a little crazy but I'm going after her."

Much to their credit Sam and Chris didn't freak out. "Josh you _know_ that's not a good idea." Sam informed him softly.

"Do I? And why's that?" He asked, pulling himself out of her grasp and retuning to searching through his wardrobe.

"Because…" How could she word this without being offensive?

"Because Quinn is a badass hunter who was trained up on those mountains by her scary wendigo-hunting dad and you're a kid who grew up in the suburbs with minimal gun and monster exposure." Chris said bluntly, folding his arms, "She's safer up there than _any_ of us would be." Josh paused, "Plus she _likes_ you, if you go up there after her there's a pretty good chance she could get hurt defending you." Josh turned towards them, looking irritated.

"So, what? You're saying I'm a distraction?" He demanded.

"Well…yeah, I think you would be." Josh slumped; Sam put her arm around his shoulders and he allowed her to lead him away from the wardrobe and slouched on the side of his bed.

"Whatever she's doing up there, she's better off doing it alone, without all of us to worry about. She got hurt last time we all went with her – and that's because she was defending us, you don't want that to happen again do you?" Sam asked him and she sat him down on his bed; Josh sighed.

"I just want her to come back." His voice was quiet and defeated; Chris patted his shoulder with a frown.

"Don't we all man, don't we all."

* * *

The smell was getting worse, she had picked up on it a while back – the stench of rotting flesh – but the further along the corridor she travelled the worse it got; it was suffocating and it didn't bode well. Gun firmly in hand she moved quietly down the hall towards the putrid scent, she wished she had brought a mask of some sort with her so she could cover the lower half of her face, because _damn_ this was unpleasant. The end of the hall was in her sights and so was…something else, something rather disturbing. She picked up her pace and eyed it curiously, she would have used a torch but she didn't want to alert anything to her presence. "What the…oh god." She placed her hand over her nose and mouth, but to cover her eyes would be dangerous. Quinn dropped to her knees as she eyed the mangled remains that were attached to the bars at the end of the hall. "Pluto…" She muttered weakly; the dog's remains had been spread around like some sort of horrendously realistic Halloween decoration. "I'm sorry boy…I should have come back sooner." She felt a wave of emotion hit her, so one of the dogs who had been not only her father's faithful companions but _her_ childhood friends was dead. Not just dead – mutilated, half-eaten and _broken_.

Placing her hands on the floor in front of her to prevent collapsing, Quinn tried her best to not throw up; she took a deep breath to steady herself but it did nothing to help. The smell of Pluto's corpse was everywhere; it was saturating everything around her – the air, her clothes…

Suddenly a piercing howl shattered the silence around her and she pushed herself backwards so she was no longer on her hands and knees. That howl didn't sound like the howl of a wendigo, she was certain, it sounded very much like the howl of a dog. Quinn suddenly forced herself to her feet; stumbling a little in the process, she set off in the direction of the howl. _"Artemis."_


	14. Artemis

**A/N: It's been a while, I'd apologise and make up an excuse but it's just who I am as a person to be perfectly honest; though compared to some stories I'm reading I don't think my updating is too slow. Oh, if you like Dragon Age I have a finish mini-fic up called Pins and Needles, it's centred around Fenris and one of my own OC's - not Hawke though; go check it ouuuut. Now that the shameless story-pushing is over...**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

The howls were weak but they were giving Quinn the strength she needed to go on; she felt her nausea subside as she concentrated on the pain-filled sounds Artemis was making. "Arty…hold on." Artemis was her father's other dog, the younger of the two and decidedly more pleasant than Pluto; he had always been her favourite. From somewhere nearby she heard a sudden crash, followed by another howl; she quickened her pace. "Artemis!" She called out, hoping the dog would hear her; the answering howl would assume he did. She was close; as she rounded the corner she was greeted by the sight of a horribly scrawny looking Artemis, cornered and growling at a wendigo that was rounding on him. "Oh _hell_ no." Quinn growled and took aim.

Before the wendigo got time to attack it was knocked to the side by her bullet and it screeched in annoyance, its disgusting clouded gaze falling on her instead. As it turned to her it was pulled backwards by Artemis, who leapt and clamped his jaws around the beasts' neck rewarding them both with another ear-splitting shriek. Artemis let go, but was caught by a swipe of the wendigo's claw and sent back into a crumbling wall; Quinn's lips curled upwards angrily and she snarled in a manner so feral it rivalled the beast before her. Lifting her gun once more she fired a shot, and another and another; she kept advancing and firing as she went until the bullets ran out, after which she discarded it and pulled out another one, repeating the process. The wendigo screamed at her in frustration, "Scream all you like, I can do this all day." _Or until you run out of guns and ammo Indiana,_ a familiar voice sounded in her head, "Oh shut up smartass." With one last departing scream it was gone; it leapt off to the side, crawling up the wall and disappearing into one of the structural cracks. "Damn right…" She smiled in grim satisfaction and quickly hurried to the dog's side; he made a soft whining sound as she approached. "Shh Arty, shhh boy it's gonna be fine, I'm here now." She lifted her hand to Artemis' face, allowing him to sniff her before she gently stroked his head and he licked her hand in approval. "Look what I brought for you..." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pouch of dry dog food, ripping it open and messily tipping it onto the floor; Artemis wasted no time in devouring the food.

Quinn's eyes quickly swept over the dogs body, checking for damages as she did so; she had found her dogs. One was very dead and had become part of the grim buildings décor, and one was alive though in clear need of a vet but…

She dug her teeth into her bottom lip angrily; if she left now those creatures would be left to wander about freely. Even go on a human-hunting spree if they ventured down far enough, without her father there to keep them in check there was little stopping chaos from erupting in the local area…but was she willing to spend the rest of her days up there guarding the fuckers so they didn't hurt anyone? No, she wasn't some sort of masochistic, self-sacrificing martyr. This stupid mountain had cost many people their lives and she'd be damned if she was another. Quinn stood, "There can't be many left now, there just can't." She quickly glanced back at her dog who was also getting to his feet, "Take it easy now, I'll get you out of here." Her fingers scratched behind her ears and he pressed his face against her hip.

Quinn was formulating a plan as they walked back through the sanatorium and into the main area that had been her father's base. He had been a practical, pragmatic man, she was certain he kept recording on all the wendigo that were currently knocking about on the mountain; in 'captivity' or otherwise. The desk was still there, in the centre of the room, a soft sigh escaped Quinn's lips as she walked up to it and examined the papers on top. As a child she had never been allowed to go through his things or even touch the desk, he had been bothered she'd 'ruin his system' or something like that; even now as an adult she half-expected him to creep up behind her and scold her for snooping. _You miss him,_ another voice, softer and more feminine than the others whispered."Of course I do…" She shook her head suddenly; hearing her friends' voices _inside_ her head wasn't a good thing; these were no longer echoes of previous conversations but new fully formed thoughts. "You're losing it girl." So far she'd heard Josh, Mike and Sam; she wondered if any of the others would be making an impromptu appearance, to really drive home just how badly she was cracking up. "It's this place I swear…it breeds madness."

 _And believe me, I know all about madness._

* * *

Josh was getting stir-crazy, he'd been stuck under almost constant supervision since his ill-advised attempt to go and _save_ Quinn had been prevented by his friends. Chris had invited himself over for a seemingly never-ending sleepover and was grating on his nerves; he knew the blond was there to watch him and make sure he didn't do anything 'stupid', he didn't understand the need for Chris' pretence. "So what're you feeling like tonight?" Chris asked, looking through a bunch of old DVD's, "Action, fantasy, sci-fi…horror?"

"How about Shawshank Redemption?" Josh suggested scathingly, "Something I can relate to."

"Really? You can relate to being sent to prison for a crime you didn't commit, being brutally assaulted by a gang of inmates and being roped into a money laundering?" Josh glared at him, and Chris heaved a sigh, "C'mon buddy, this isn't a prison! We just don't want you running off or…"

"Doing anything stupid." The brunette looked away, "Yeah, I know." He could feel Chris' frown burning into the side of his head so he reluctantly relented to his friends badgering. "But seriously, I wanna watch Shawshank." He might as well enjoy his prison sentence, unlike Andy.

Chris grinned.

* * *

Happily, Quinn had found her fathers 'guide' on which wendigo were captured and/or roaming free; currently she was trying to remember roughly how many Mike had told her were killed during their time on the mountain. "Right…right." Quinn had only managed to kill one on her last visit. "So in total there should only be around 4-5 left, if pops calculated it properly…that's not too bad boy!" She smiled cheerfully at the Tamaskan hound, who merely tilted his head in response. "But without fire this isn't even going to be _possible…_ " She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "By all rights this isn't even my god damn responsibility." Dragging out a chair from under the desk she half collapsed into it and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

 _No one would blame you for leaving now…_

"I'd blame me. Curse my conscience!"

 _Just come back Indiana, what're you gonna do without fire to barbecue those fuckers and a lame dog?_

"Well…" Artemis was still gazing at her, loyalty still evident in his eyes even after all the time he'd been up there fending for himself; dogs were such magical creatures.

 _Just come home._

"Oh who asked you, you crazy asshole!" She stood angrily and stomped her foot.

… _Well I'm not really here so…_

"…Good point, I'm the only crazy asshole present." Artemis nudged her again, startled by her erratic behaviour, "Aw dammit, the voices are right. I came for you and I need to get you sorted…the people of Canada are just gonna have to wait." She scratched behind his ears and gave him a half smile, "Let's get out of here." Before she left, Quinn reached into her coat, pulled out her phone and switched it on. It showed she still had 70% and no signal; sighed a little she placed it back into her pocket. "Not sure what I expected really. No one can contact me without signal…not that I want them too obviously." She hurriedly added, looking at the dog defensively; as if she expected him to smirk knowingly at her.

Together Quinn and Artemis made their way quietly back through the Sanatorium, and started to head down the mountain; Quinn feeling slightly deflated and more than a little uneasy about her decision. Her hands tightened around the shot-gun she held and her eyes darted about nervously, everything about them was just too quiet – too still; no animals could be heard at all. Artemis stayed obediently by her side as snow slowly started to fall, it was light as first but it didn't take long until it became a flurry. The temperature dropped further, making her movement slower and stiffer and her vision became gradually more impaired. "Well shit I really should have checked the forecast." She grumbled through clenched teeth; Artemis whined. "Oh c'mon you should be used to this by now." They trudged on through the building storm until at last the cable-car hut was in sight, and Quinn had never been happier to see it. She reached for her phone again and shielded it with one hand from the harsh weather, she had signal once again and she was incredibly tempted to contact one of them and at least let them know she was alright. Now her anger had subsided she felt a little guilty for making them worry; the brunette scrolled down through her contacts trying to pick one to notify. Quinns thumb hovered uncertainly over Josh's name…

A growl from beside her alerted Quinn that something was wrong.

Quickly she looked up from the screen and scanned her surroundings as best she could through the snow, "What is it Arty?" She reached out to pat the dogs head when movement in the tress caught her eye; inhumanely fast movement. "I think we might have a problem…"

* * *

It was well after midnight, but Josh couldn't sleep; he laid there staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft sound of Chris' snoring from the sleeping bag beside his bed. They may have been best buds, but they were above spooning each other in the same bed. After the last time Josh had woken up to find the blonds limbs so entangled in his own that at first glance he wasn't sure which _were_ his own, he had insisted on separate sleeping arrangements. Quinn barely took up any room when she'd shared his bed; she had always slept right on the edge of her side, curled up in a tiny ball…

Chris' snored loudly, snapping him from his thoughts and Josh stifled a sigh.

Quinn didn't snore either.

 _Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm._ The suddenly sound caught his attention and his head snapped to the left where his phone was vibrating on his table. _Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm._ The fact it was ringing so late at night was unusual so he leaned forwards and picked it up, and the name on the screen made him sit bolt-upright in bed; it was Quinn. Quinn was _ringing him._ He fumbled quickly, trying to both compose himself and answer the phone at the same time; "Quinn?!" Chris groaned in his sleep and rolled over; "Give me a minute…" He quietly got out of bed and tip-toed towards his door, stepping over his sleep-over pal as he did; once he was safely outside he placed his phone to his ear again. "Hey sorry, I didn't wanna wake Chris up…" It was at that point he realised Quinn wasn't on the other end of the phone – or rather she _was,_ but evidently she hadn't meant to ring him. Josh was greeted by lots of muffled swearing and a screech that made him blood run cold…as well as barking; it was the most confusing phone call he'd ever been on the receiving end of. "Quinn! Quinn…oh for god's sake woman." He began pacing about in the hall, running his hand over his tired face. "I swear to god you are going to be the death of me! And just because you saved my life, it doesn't give you a free pass!" There was a strange muffled noise on her end, and suddenly all the sounds he had heard previously were amplified; as if he'd been put on speaker…

"What the hell? Josh?! It's the real Josh, would you look at that!" It was her, it was _actually_ her. "Aw man my phone must have rung you by accident when I fell on my face." She sounded out of breath, she was panting quite heavily but he was too happy to hear her again to really piece together what might be happening where she was.

"Nice to hear your voice too." He joked lamely; his voice caught a little, rather ruining the smooth, off-hand vibe he was going for. Quinn laughed, she actually laughed; it sounded wonderful. Oh how he'd become simultaneously stronger and more pathetic since he'd met her, it was quite astounding.

"Sorry Chief, of course hearing that _smooth, smooth_ voice of yours has brightened my day but I'm kinda having a…situation right no – oh shit, shit!" He heard gun fire and froze; was she on the phone to him and fighting a wendigo at the same time? "Artemis - stay boy!"

"Artemis?"

"Stay – yes my dog – Arty!"

Josh furrowed his brow in confusion, she was so unpredictable. "Since when do you have a dog?"

"Since forever – **BANG –** look Josh this is a bad time –!" She cursed loudly on the other end of the phone and he grinned despite himself, "So I'm gonna have to love you and leave you…" She suddenly stopped, realising what she just said and an awkward silence replaced her voice; "Bollocks – **BANG –** bye!" Quinn hung up and Josh took his phone away from his ear, staring at the screen with the same slightly idiotic grin still plastered on his face.

 _I'm gonna have to love you and leave you._

 _I'm gonna have to love you…_

 _Love you…_

Josh fist pumped in celebration, they were definitely going to have to have a talk when she got back…. _when she got back._ He celebrated by himself until it dawned on him that throughout their conversation she had been firing a gun and attempting to outwit and out manoeuvre a wendigo. Quinn wasn't out of the woods yet – literally.

There was still a very real chance the girl of his dreams could be ripped to pieces by monsters; and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

* * *

 **Until it dawned on him! See what I did there?! Far too proud when I realised.**


	15. Hospital

**A/N: Life, am I right? Had such a mad past few weeks with crazy shifts at work, to funerals, to my repetitive strain injury on my wrist playing up...combined with attempting Christmas shopping. Well I've barely had time to breathe let alone write. Better late than never though I guess; this whole thing should be pretty much done within the next 4ish chapters I think. Huzzah!**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

Speaking to Josh had been a mistake in more ways than one; a mistake in the sense that Quinn hadn't meant to do it, but also, talking to him had well and truly screwed her focus. She should have just hung up straight away when she realised what had happened – she was trying to evade being mauled to death by a wendigo, it wasn't exactly the best time to be taking phone calls. But…hearing his voice had been nice; inwardly the thought made her cringe, she was acting like a love sick teenager. Artemis' howl tore her from her thoughts and she yelped as she narrowly dodged a swipe from the beast that was perusing them; or rather the beast that had caught them, since they were no longer running.

Quinn's eyes darted about searching for a solution, all she had to do was get herself and Artemis in the cable car and set it to go down…but what if it followed? The practical part of her mind wouldn't allow her to meekly retreat if it meant possibly endangering others. That settled it, she'd have to make _it_ retreat before she could; she felt about in her pockets and found the items she needed were still there; she might not have had a flamethrower to kill it but, she had learned from Sam and brought deodorant and a lighter. In this situation scaring it off would be enough. "Right." Quinn grit her teeth; when it came at her again she would be ready, she just had to let it get close enough for the flame to reach. Which was, admittedly, uncomfortably close. It charged and she flicked the switch on the side of the lighter and sprayed the deodorant, a bright yellow flame burst forth and the Wendigo shrieked in chagrin. "I missed!"

Though the flame failed to hit, it did cause the creature to back away from them both and Quinn took the opportunity to circle round so both she and her reclaimed dog were on the side of the cable car. Gently, she placed her hand on the top of Artemis' head and led him with her as she moved; neither of them taking their eyes from their target. The cold, empty eyes of the Wendigo followed them as they moved but it made no move towards them.

Once they were successfully but the side of the door Quinn finally had to take her eyes from the Wendigo and pull the lever to open it, she ushered Artemis inside and let out a sigh of relief as she took stepped inside the car. Her relief was short lived when she heard a scrambling behind her; she turned in time to miss the deadly half of the Wendigo's attack, however it's teeth still sliced into her neck with ease and she screamed in pain as she thrashed. Quinn pulled herself forwards and stumbled onto the floor; she turned and quickly set her mini-flame thrower on the beast. This time she didn't miss; it howled and stumbled away from the entrance, flailing about and trying to put the flames out. In its panicked thrashing the Wendigo hit the controls for the cable car and with a lurch it set off transporting Quinn and Artemis back down the mountain. Quinn let out a half-laugh in disbelief, "Someone should write a book about all the crazy shit that happens to me, I swear." Artemis licked the side of her cheek and she stroked his face; they may have been bloody and beaten, but they were alive.

A warmth trickling down her collarbone reminded her of her injury; she unzipped her coat and ripped off the bottom of the vest she wore under her jumper as best she could, after which she pressed the lump of fabric against the wound to prevent her from losing too much blood. "I think I might need to pay Dr Greene a visit again." She groaned, "Maybe she can look you over too." Artemis barked in acknowledgement and she laughed, tickling his ears. "Good boy." She took her phone from her pocket again and quickly typed out a text, letting Josh know she was alright after what had just happened. _I'm wendigo free, heading back down this stupid mountain with Artemis now…_ Quinn hesitated for a second, _I got a little injured so I'm gonna go get checked out, hopefully get my dog checked too. See you in a day or two._ After she sent it she was half tempted to turn her phone off, just so she didn't have to speak to anyone attempting to ring her.

Once they'd reached the other side she felt her phone go off, she should have known it wouldn't take him long to reply despite the hour. _Good to know, see you soon._ "Well that's very…rational and unexpected." She frowned at the text and re-read it, shaking her head a little. "I suppose him not freaking out is a good thing." Looking around she sighed as she saw snow started to drift down from the expanse of dark sky above. "Better get us to hospital before we freeze to death then…let's hope we come across a kind stranger willing to give us a lift." Artemis howled and the two set off slowly down the mountain, weariness dogging her every step; the blood oozing from her neck and making her light headed as she went. "I hope to God I never see fucking snow again."

* * *

After texting Quinn, Josh placed his phone on the windowsill beside him and tried his very best not to freak out. Yes, she was alive – but she was going to hospital! And she was alone so there was no one to help her…well, bar this dog he kept hearing about but he doubted it'd be much help. Why did she even have a dog with her? _What was going on?_ He groaned and pressed his palms against his eyes in frustration; she honestly drove him crazier when she wasn't with him. "Well that's it isn't it." He started out of the window and sighed, "I'm going to have to go down there after all."

Sneaking back into his room, Josh grabbed his keys and wallet, making certain he didn't wake Chris and tiptoed downstairs. He made sure to leave a note for his parents; detailed enough so they wouldn't worry too much but vague enough that they possibly wouldn't find him, before he let himself out. "Can't wait to see the look on her face." He grinned to himself and locked the door behind him. "She's gonna kill me." On that final thought Josh set off, feeling considerably lighter than he had earlier in the day.

* * *

Doctor Vanessa Greene rubbed her temples tiredly, it had been a long day; a long day made even longer by stacks of tedious paperwork. The good doctor loved her jobs but these late night shifts really wore on her, luckily she was reaching the bottom of the stack. Unluckily just as she was finishing the last of it a ruckus not far away caught her attention. "So close…" She grumbled, getting to her feet and leaving the safety of her office.

"Look I'm very sorry miss but animals aren't allowed in here." Vanessa could hear the voice of the receptionist.

"Well what do you want me to do? He's hurt, I can't leave a half-starved damaged dog chained up outside can I?" That voice! Vanessa definitely recognised that voice; from the British accent to the acid that laced the girl's words. "Just get me Dr Greene dammit, or would you rather I bled out in the foyer?" As she rounded the corner, her suspicions were confirmed.

Stood in what appeared to be a stand-off with a weary looking member of staff was none other than Willow, the sassy young woman she had treated several weeks earlier for damaged ribs. Normally she wouldn't remember a random face from so long ago, however the police and media that had followed were what engraved the encounter into her memory. "Willow? What's going on?" At her words, both turned towards her.

"Ah Dr Greene this…young lady-!"

"Hey Doc I told you not to call me that last time I was here." The brunette sighed, she was holding a rather bloody rag to her neck and she dog by her side appeared malnourished. It was Vanessa's turn to sigh, she had almost made it to the end of her shift, why did complications have to occur now?

"Alright then, _Quinn,_ my question's the same – what's going on?" The blonde doctor folded her arms across her chest.

"Uh, I'm kinda bleeding here, I was hoping you'd stop it…" Vanessa pinched the bridge of her nose, evidently explanations weren't the girls strong point. "Or not, it's cool. Just leave me here. Might get a tad messy though." Quinn shrugged as nonchalantly as she could.

"Alright, alrigth, come this way…the dog too." She turned to the receptionist, "Thanks Tracy, I'll take it from here." Quinn and her faithful companion followed Dr Greene down the corridor and back into her office, where she closed the door behind them. "Just sit on the bed." She motioned to the examination bed in the corner and Quinn complied. Vanessa gently removed the blood soaked material from Quinn's neck and took a look at the damage; the brunette winced. "Goodness, were you bitten by something?!" She asked, eyeing the wound with wide eyes.

"Looks like it doesn't it?" Quinn drawled, "Before you ask I didn't see what did it, Arty and I managed to get away though." The dog wagged its tail in response to its name. "My tetanus jab is up to date, I think it just needs dressing really…and I lacked the materials to do it myself, or I wouldn't have bothered you."

Vanessa eyed it critically with a small light, "I think you're right, it's pretty clean. And not so deep you need stitches." She clicked off the light and went to her drawers to remove some antiseptic and bandages. "I'll clean it up and wrap it for you."

"Thanks Doc." Quinn beamed at her and Vanessa sighed; she didn't have to help and Quinn knew that, as such she'd be a polite as she could be. "Think you'd be able to look of Artemis? He ah…fell." Quinn scratched her nose and avoided eye contact.

"I'm not a vet, _Willow_." She winced and Vanessa smiled.

"Yeah, yeah I know but if he's a bad way I need to know before I travel all the way back."

"I... suppose I could take a look." Vanessa relented, "But I reiterate: I am not a vet." Quinn gave her another bright smile.

"You're a gem." She let the doctor get to work fixed up her neck; the antiseptic burned and she bit her tongue to prevent herself from swearing. "Well that stung." Vanessa smiled lightly and carefully dressed the wound. "You won't get in trouble for using hospital supplies will you?"

Never taking her eyes from her work, the young doctor shook her head, "No, this is my personal first aid kit. Thanks for the concern though." A slightly sarcastic smile tugged at her lips.

"Are you sassing me?" Quinn asked with a raised brow, "Didn't know you had it in you." The doctor laughed and finished dressing the wound.

"Right then, Artemis." She crouched and looked the dog in the face, "Lets take a look at you." Looking around her office she pulled a blanket from the corner and motioned from Quinn to move. Once she'd scooted over, Vanessa spread the blanket over the bed. "He'll need to get up here…"

"Arty, up." Quinn patted the blanket and the dog jumped up beside her, and licked her face.

"Well he managed that without trouble." Though she wasn't certain what she was doing, Vanessa looked over the impeccably behaved dog as best she could. "Don't take my word for it, but he certainly _seems_ fine…you say he fell?" Quinn's eyebrows shot so far up Vanessa was certain she was lying.

"Ah yeah, fell. He fell real far. Super far…ok so maybe he didn't fall, he was attacked too." She huffed, "But you think he's ok? What a super sturdy dog you are, yes you are!" She rubbed his head enthusiastically and the dogs tail began beating the chair happily. "Well thanks Doc, you saved me from myself once again." Quinn hopped off the seat, but stumbled forwards suddenly taken off balance. "Woah, shit. I'm ok, I'm ok." Vanessa had reached out the steady her. "Just…a little tired, it's been a very long…actually I don't even know." Quinn sighed and rubbed her eyes.

Vanessa eyed her carefully, she was paler than when they had last spoken, and there were dark circles forming under her eyes; she looked more than a little tired. "Quinn…you're obviously exhausted, and you lost quite a bit of blood…I don't think you're in a fit state to be travelling anywhere."

"Maybe not, but luckily I'm not burdened with choice; I have nowhere to go but back, so back is where I'll be going." Quinn retorted weakly, she pressed her hand against her forehead in an attempt to lessen the sudden pounding in her head.

"Look, why don't you stay here, just for a few hours…get some sleep?" She offered; silently cursing her giving and compassionate nature. Though that was why she became a doctor, to help. "You nap up there, I have some paper work that needs finishing, I'll wake you up when I'm finished and you can go then." She kept her voice as reasonable as possible; Quinn frowned at her, clearly mulling her offer over.

"You'll wake me up when you're done?" She asked, yawning; Vanessa gave her a pacifying smile.

"Of course."

"M'kay." She shrugged, her weariness getting the better of her. Quinn settled onto the bed, and Artemis curled up beside his owner protectively, keeping his eyes open as long as he could until eventually they both fell asleep.

Vanessa sighed and returned to her desk and tackle more paperwork, so close to escaping…yet so far. At least she'd be up to date for the next few days, providing there were no more unscheduled interruptions…


	16. Understanding

**A/N: LifeAmIRight? Never mind, not much to say. I envision like 2 more chapters, and I'm working on a one-shot epilogue too just to tie everything up. Heavy dialogue chapters are never my favourite but they are necessary. Oh thank you for all the follows and favourites by the way! Reviews are always welcome.**

 _ **Enjoy.**_

* * *

"Quinn…" A soft voice was calling to her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to respond. "Quinn." She was so warm and comfortable; she wished to remain so and hugged herself tightly, determined to ignore whoever or whatever was trying to drag her from her happy place. "God dammit Quinoa, wake up!" A hand firmly gripped Quinn's shoulder and gave her a shake for good measure.

Grumpily she cracked open an eye, "Whaizzit?" She grumbled, waiting for her eyesight to focus in on her surroundings.

"Afternoon sleeping beauty." A rather sarcastic voice greeted her, a sarcastic and familiar voice at that.

Quinn opened both her eyes and groaned at the bright light that assaulted her retinas. "Chief?" She mumbled, slightly disorientated, "Am I dreaming?" Josh smiled down at her for a second before reached towards her and pinching her arm sharply. "Ouch! A simple 'no' would have done." She hissed, swatting his hands away and sitting up. Turning her neck from side to side to work out the cricks she quickly scanned the room; Dr Greene was sat at her desk, staring at the two clearly torn between frustration and amusement. "Oh, hey there Doc."

"Afternoon, how does your neck feel?" She stood from her desk and walked over, carefully turning Quinn's neck; she gently peeled back the dressing and examined the wound.

"Feels like I had a chunk of it ripped out by some rabid animal." Josh caught her eye, and though he was remaining silent for the time being, she had a sneaking suspicion she would get a mouth full off him when they were alone. "Other than that I'm pretty chipper."

Vanessa re-did the dressing, "It should be fine, it appears to be uninfected so just keep changing the dressing to ensure it remains that way, okay?" Quinn nodded. "Well then if you're quite rested up…" She trailed off but Quinn understood and quickly hopped off the bed, Artemis was already on the floor and immediately brushed his head against her.

"There you are…thanks a million Doc, I owe you one." Dr Greene gave her a thin-lipped smile, evidently extremely tired.

"Pay me back by never going back to Blackwood Pines again; it's bad for your health."

Quinn grinned at her and made her way to the door, "I'll try…no promises though." Before she could leave Josh grabbed her wrist and produced a collar and lead from his coat. "Wha…?"

"You can't just wonder around with a wolf and not have it on a lead." He informed her; Quinn frowned and scratched behind Artemis' ears.

"He's a Tamaskan not a wolf…" Josh continued to hold her gaze until she sighed, "Fine, but he's not used to collars or leads, he won't be happy." Josh rolled his eyes and thrust the items at her. Quinn kneeled down and fixed the collar around Artemis; he whined in protest but otherwise allowed her to do it. "Sorry boy, major buzzkill over here seems to think you'll go on a murderous rampage if I leave you unchecked." She shrugged apologetically.

"Yeah, yeah I'm a buzzkill now come on we've bothered Dr Greene enough." Josh rolled his eyes, "Bye Doc, thanks for taking care of this pain in the ass." Quinn looked mildly outraged and turned to the doctor with a frown.

"Cya." She hurriedly followed Josh out of the door, slamming it closed behind her. "I am not a pain in the arse you ungrateful heathen."

"Heathen? Has Blackwood Pines converted you?"

Vanessa Greene listened to the two adolescents bicker as they walked down the hall, away from her office; alone at last she collapsed into her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Never mind bad for her health, I think it's worse for mine." She sighed and stared up at her ceiling, hoping half-heartedly that that would be the last she would see of the troublesome Willow Quinzel.

* * *

Travelling back with Josh had suddenly turned tense and uncomfortable. After the initial playful banter and comradery had subsided they were left in an awkward silence; Quinn didn't know what do to or say. Should she apologise to him? She hated apologising, she'd never had to apologise as much in her life as she had when she'd stepped off the damned plane nearly two months ago. They were sat side by side on a coach, Artemis was by her side on the floor on the floor space of the empty seat beside her; she gnawed at her lip indecisively.

"Josh…I-!" As soon as he turned his head to look at her, her words died; he looked drained.

"Stop. Don't." He shook his head a little, and Quinn bristled slightly in her seat.

"You'd rather just sit here in this painful silence?" She folded her arms and watched for his reaction expectantly; he merely raised a brow.

" _You'd_ rather start discussing why you decided to run away and travel to Canada on a suicide mission in the middle of the night, on a very public coach?" Josh countered.

Quinn opened her mouth but closed it again, a sheepish look crossing her features. "I s'pose not." She grumbled, sinking down into her seat slightly.

"I thought so." He relaxed into his seat and turned to look out of the window at the rolling scenery.

"Awkward silence it is then."

"Looks like it."

Quinn grit her teeth; he _always_ had to have the last word, well not on her watch. "Indeed."

"Yepp." Or maybe he would.

Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw him smirking...

It was only when the Washington household began to loom in the distance that Quinn began to panic; after all she had no idea what kind of reception would be awaiting her inside. Would the other Washington's be angry with her for just taking off without saying anything? Josh certainly was…

Noticing her sudden stiffness Josh suddenly grabbed her hand and she turned to him in surprise, "Don't even think of running away again." He warned her, at which she scowled and looked away.

"Like I would." She took a deep breath as they approached the doorway and inadvertently squeezed Josh's hand; he didn't say anything, he just unlocked the door and half-dragged her inside before she could work herself up any more.

"Mom? We're back." Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from nearby and Josh's parents rounded the corner into the foyer; Laura Washington looked torn between worry and relief while Max Washington look straight up _pissed_.

"Joshua! And Quinn…do you have any idea how worried we were?!" Laura exclaimed loudly, striding over and wrapping her arms around her son; from over his shoulder she shot Quinn a slightly guilty look.

"Oh come on I've not even been gone _that_ long." Josh sighed as his mother pulled away.

"That's besides the point." Max piped up, "We didn't know _where_ you were or _what_ you were doing!" Now it was Josh's turn to look a little guilty.

"I was getting Quinn…"

"Yes I can _see_ that." Then, Max turned to Quinn, not looking quite as fearsome as he had while addressing Josh, "Quinn, it's good to see you're alright, that's something at least…what happened to your neck?" He spied the dressing and furrowed his brow; Quinn's hand automatically flew to her neck and she forced an awkward smile.

"Oh, nothing much, I'm fine, just a little clumsy…" A silence settled over the room. A soft head suddenly grazed Quinn's side and looking down she saw Artemis staring at her. "Uh right, Washington's meet Artemis." Now all eyes were on her and the Tamaskan, "He was my dad's dog…I went to go get him." She explained.

"That…is a very large dog." Max replied, eyeing the dog warily.

"He's virtually harmless…to people." She added the latter part under her breath, "Anyway look I'm _really_ sorry about just taking off on you all like that, I'm not sure what came over me…I just really felt like I need to get Arty." Quinn shrugged again a little lamely. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble…or to incite an impromptu and completely unnecessary rescue mission." At that she looked pointedly at Josh, who didn't seem remotely bothered by her words.

"Yeah well next time you don't want that to happen leave a note." He retorted. "Or answer your cell."

"How about you take your own advice?" Quinn snapped back.

The Washington's exchanged a look, Laura was rather relieved to see that Quinn was the same as she had ever been and that Josh appeared to have perked up; though he was still a little sullen. "Why don't you two go get some rest, I'm sure you've had a long journey." Everyone turned to her in surprise.

"Laura I was rather hoping to talk to our son-!" Laura put her hand firmly on her husband's shoulder.

"And you can, tomorrow. Oh how about I go buy some dog food?" She added brightly, Quinn turned to her in surprise.

"Ah that's fine Mrs W I can go later…"

"Nonsense, you need rest." She bobbed to stroke Artemis' head, "I'll go now." On that note they were both dismissed; Quinn felt incredibly relieved as ascended the stairs, she had expected…well actually she hadn't been certain _what_ to expect. Mr Washington had definitely been more cordial than she could have hoped, he just seemed angry with Josh.

"Man I was sure I was in for an ear full back there…" She laughed as they entered Josh's room, he slammed the door shut behind them and she jumped and turned in response; she hadn't escaped the ear full.

"No, that starts now." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, moving across the room to sit cross legged on his bed while and prepared herself for the torrent he was about to throw at her. "First of all, are you _fucking insane?_ " He demanded, "I mean, I know you're a little 'devil may care' and kinda tapped but _seriously?_ " She raised an eyebrow at him.

" _Kinda tapped?_ " She repeated though partially grit teeth.

"Yes! What normal person just flips out randomly at friends and disappears in the middle of the night? And then refuses to answer calls or let anyone know they're alright?" He was successfully making her feel bad, until she remembered _why_ she had 'flipped out' in the first place.

"What kind of people take on some random girl as a surrogate for someone important that they lost?!" She shot back, "I didn't stay to play fucking house with you and your mum Josh."

"Okay, yes, so I found out what you overheard my parents yelling about…" He admitted, "And yeah I get that was probably a _super_ weird thing to hear…but why freak out on _me?_ Why run off and refuse to talk to _me_ about it? I didn't do shit!" Quinn opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again. There he had a point. "Why did hearing it make you travel to another fucking country to get a dog?!"

"I…freaked out at everything." She sighed, "The whole situation, you, Sam, just…everyone..." Suddenly she was a little deflated, she had known leaving was a mistake as soon as she'd reached the border but it had been too late to turn back. "I'm sorry for worrying everyone, I just wasn't sure if you guys were…doing to the same thing."

"The same thing?" He took a seat next to her.

"Using me as a replacement for Hannah or Beth or…both." She admitted; Josh suddenly looked offended.

"What kind of _weird_ relationship do you think I had with my sisters?" He asked incredulously, "I didn't share my bed with them for god's sake! Not since we were kids anyway. I definitely didn't flirt with them…" He trailed off, shaking his head slightly at the notion.

"You flirt with me?" Quinn asked suddenly.

Josh went slightly rigid. "I certainly _try_ to."

Quinn frowned at him, thinking back at all the time they'd spent together, "Are you sure?" Josh huffed and she grinned at him.

"Never mind that, we have shit to sort out right now!" He ran a hand through his hair, "No one is trying to use you at all, I don't even think my mom meant it…you're not really like either of them." Quinn relaxed, some of the tension leaving her body. "Next time…just use your words if something happens, don't sneak out."

"I guess I can do that…sorry." She mumbled the 'sorry' quietly before she sighed again. "Man I've done nothing but sigh and apologise since I got here." Josh swung his arm around her shoulders and gave her a brief squeeze; Quinn flushed involuntarily, but otherwise said nothing.

"Well…good talk." He grinned at her half-heartedly and she sniggered.

"Yepp…though you'll be having another with your dad tomorrow by the looks of things." He groaned and leaned his forehead against the side of her head.

"Kill me now." Quinn butchered her lips between her teeth at the contact, he wasn't purposely embarrassing her she was certain but never the less…

"I…should probably let the others know I'm back huh?" She asked; he raised his head smiling.

"You mean you didn't tell anyone else you were done?"

"No, I mean…I only rang you by accident, I didn't really get a chance to…hey why're you smiling like that, stop it!" She elbowed him in the side, hoping he wouldn't notice her violently red face. "Dammit Josh!" He laughed.

"I'm glad you're back Quinoa." The words made her feel warm; it'd been a long time since she'd felt so comfortable somewhere so far from where she once called home; so _welcome_. After Stuart had died she wasn't sure what would come next for her, how she was supposed to carry on with no one in the world giving two craps about her. She had envisioned a rather bleak, lonely existence…but Josh Washington had kept her together and prevented a meltdown she couldn't bounce back from, and in return she hadn't treated him like a china doll that could break down at any given time. He was the duct tape to her crutch.

She felt herself smile brightly at him "I'm…glad to be back." And for once, she actually meant it.


	17. Par-tay (Part 1)

**A/N: Happy Valentine's day! I put this off for so long I ended up deciding I'd publish it today, though it's not a particularly romantic chapter. This was originally intended to be one chapter, but I got to 2000 words and realised I had sooo much more I needed to write that I decided to split it into 2 chapters, so here's part 1! Oh, I was watching TBBT while I wrote the latter half of this, you might spot a line/phrase that's from it. I think this is ok grammar wise but if you spot anything leave me a comment and I'll correct it, on a side note, has anyone been to watch Deadpool yet? I saw it Friday and oh dear Lord it's so awesome.**

 **Anywho, here it is so _enjoy._**

* * *

Patiently, Chris listened to his friend as he discussed his plans for the upcoming weekend; when the Washington parental figures were away, Joshua would play. Particularly since that weekend was to be Quinn's last, she was catching a flight back to the UK on the Tuesday. "What do you think?" Josh asked the blond eventually, after reiterating the plan.

"You know me mi amigo, I'm always up for a party." Josh grinned cheerfully, "But there's something you should probably think about before you run away with this…"

"What?"

"Uhh, does Quinn seem like the type who _enjoys_ parties?" Chris asked, "She strikes me as more of an 'avoid social events at all costs' kind of girl…well, either that or the type who gets drunk and starts fights." Chris winced a little at the thought of a drunken, raged fuelled Quinn chasing him round a house party. "I'd ask her first if I were you."

Josh sighed dramatically, "You can't throw a surprise party if you ask the…surprise-ee?" They exchanged a brief questioning look before Josh shrugged and continued, "It'll be fine, she might glare and huff a bit at first but she'll end up having a great time – _trust me_." At that, Chris grinned and shot his friend a conspiratorial look.

"You've got a plan haven't you?"

"You betcha." The smile the two shared was positively clandestine.

* * *

Quinn was rather rudely awoken by two female intruders storming into her (Josh's) room and throwing open the curtains; she hissed and shielded her eyes from the sun's cruel rays. "What the…"

"Rise and shine sleepy head." Quinn glared at the perky female in her room, and her slightly guilty looking companion. "You've got a big day ahead of you."

"Jess, Sam. Not to be rude but please get the fuck out before I shoot you both." She pulled the covers up over her head and tried to ignore them both; much to her dismay and annoyance the covers were ripped from her and discarded onto the floor. If looks could kill, then Jessica would most definitely have died a gruesome death at that moment. "What do you w _ant?_ " She hissed through gritted teeth.

"I told you, you have a big day ahead!" Jess just smiled at her, ignoring the filthy look she was receiving.

"We've been sent to get you ready." Sam informed her a little apologetically.

"Ready for what?" Quinn grumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Your surprise!"

"My _what_ now?" Jess look at Sam with a devious smile on her pretty face, a smile Quinn wanted nothing more than to punch off. "Explain, now. I hate surprises." She folded her arms stubbornly and glared at both of them expectantly.

"Well…we can't tell you what the surprise is obviously, but you're supposed to come to mine and have a nice r _elaxing_ day." Sam shot Jess a very pointed look, which she snorted at, "And then we'll bring you back later for…it." Both blondes grinned at her hopefully; Quinn was still seriously considering resorting to violence.

"Fine." She relented with a sigh, knowing they probably wouldn't leave her alone anyway, especially if Josh had anything to do with this 'surprise'. "Let me get dressed and shit and I'll meet you downstairs." They exchanged a look and Quinn rolled her eyes, "Seriously where am I gonna go? You think I'm gonna climb out the window as soon as you leave?"

"It's not impossible." Sam reasoned.

"Ugh, god, get out!" Quinn hopped out of bed and ushered them both out, "I'll be down in like 5 minutes."

"Wow, 5 minutes? That's all it takes?" Jess raised an eyebrow at her in surprise; Quinn growled and pushed them out, slamming the door closed behind them.

"I think I preferred it when I only had one friend." She shook her head tiredly and quickly got dressed, she made sure to pick an outfit that would offend Jess' sense of fashion. Once she was ready she grabbed her phone and tapped out a text to Josh; _I've been summoned by two blonde demons, heading out. I'll see you later on I assume?_ She headed downstairs where the two were waiting for her; the look of disgust that crossed Jess' face when she saw her improved her mood considerably. "So where're we going?"

"To mine." Sam smiled at her, "I live closer than Jess."

"And I wouldn't want you to be seen entering my house wearing that."

"There's nothing even wrong with it." Quinn rolled her eyes, "I like to be comfortable."

"Yeah I've noticed." She sighed a little dramatically, "Well, it works for Josh I'll give you that." She directed a sly smirk at Quinn, who stared at her blankly.

"Honestly I don't think he particularly cares what I'm wearing." She replied shrugging; the two blondes exchanged shocked looks and she realised straight away she'd made a mistake with her wording. "No. Whatever you two are thinking stop!" She wagged her finger at them emphatically, "We sleep together - well no, not that kind of sleeping together but…oh man." She stumbled through her sentence, and ended up clamping her mouth shut red faced. "Don't say a word." Quinn warned them through gritted teeth.

"Wow!" Jess laughed at her, which only served to deepen her blush.

"I've never seen you so _flustered_ before." Sam joked, nudging her with her shoulder.

"There is so something going on there."

"There's nothing going on!" Quinn folded her arms angrily.

"Oooo, methinks the lady doth protest too much." Sam laughed, forcing her arms to link with Quinn; at the younger girls scowl she only laughed more, "We're only teasing you Quinn, lighten up."

"Speak for yourself." Jess mumbled.

Quinn felt her phone go off in her pocket and checked it as the three made their way down the sunny suburban street; _I know, and yes, yes you will… ;)_ The wink at the end of the message made her gaze at her phone uneasily. Evidently they were all in on whatever her surprise was, why was she shocked that Josh was at the heart of it all. "Speak of the devil…" Sam was nosing at the text from beside Quinn, who hastily shoved the phone back in her pocket.

"I thought today was supposed to be relaxing." Quinn complained, "Between you, you've managed to stress me out nearly as much as Blackwood Pines."

"Sorry! It's just…nice to see him so happy." Sam shrugged, "It's been a long time; far too long." Quinn frowned thoughtfully.

"Yepp, that's true." Jess conceded with a solemn nod, "Also I kinda just like messing with you cause, y'know, you're such a 'big, bad hunter' an all." The small brunette shook her head but finally smiled.

"You and Mike are _made_ for each other."

"Oh my God, I know right?"

The three carried on chatting happily as they walked to Sam's, all the while Sam's words about how happy Josh had been playing over in her head; had she really made that much of a difference? Sam was staying with her parents, both of whom were out, so the three made themselves at home in her spacious bedroom. The walls were painted a pale blue colour and the room was tidy and uncluttered, with all items with a personal significance placed in strategically neat and aesthetically pleasing places…it was very _Sam_. "I've not know you long but this is pretty much exactly what I thought your room would look like." Quinn smirked, looking around. "Very organised."

Sam's ears turned pink, "I don't like mess." She informed them defensively. They all took seats while Quinn sprawled out lazily across the bed, Sam sighed as she looked at her.

"What? Am I making your room too messy?" Jess sniggered from beside her and Sam narrowed her eyes at the two. If either of the three had really thought about the situation, the oddness may have hit them; Jess and Sam may have known each other several years but no one could ever had said they were best friends…and Quinn was so different to both of them it was a wonder they got on at all. Yet there they were, joking and talking as if it had always been so natural for them to do so. Before long Quinn had completely forgotten her earlier irritation and found she was having quite a nice time, despite never really getting along with girls; or anyone, actually.

"Right, we better get started." Jess hopped off the bed and started rummaging through a large, pink bag she had brought with her, "Quinn does your hair do anything other than…just hang there?" Quinn frowned at her, thoroughly confused.

"What do you want it to do? Serenade you?" Jess rolled her eyes and carried on rummaging. "What're you looking for?" She asked curiously, suddenly Jess' hand shot up triumphantly from the bag holding a very suspect looking cylindrical item. "Uhhhh…what exactly _is_ that thing your brandishing at me?"

"Oh God did you grow up in a cave?" Jess shook her head in disbelief.

"It's a curling iron." Sam informed her, hiding her smile.

Quinn made an 'o' with her mouth, "Never would I have guessed that…"

Once again Jess shot her a pitying look before she handed the iron to Sam, "You're on hair duty, I'll try and sort out her face."

"Jess." Sam chided her, "Quinn has a great face."

"Gee thanks." Quinn snorted.

"Well she'll have a fucking _gorgeous_ face when I'm done with her." Jess declared; Quinn gripped the bed and looking between the two, her suspicions rising, "Aw look at her, she looks terrified." Jess grinned at her maliciously and Quinn narrowed her eyes.

"What're doing?"

"We're getting you ready for later." Sam smiled at her warmly, "We'll all get ready, have a few pre-drinks and then go back to the Washington's for about…7ish?" She looked to Jess who nodded.

"Being fashionably late might add to the 'wow-factor'." Jess also produced a bottle of what appeared to be vodka from her bag.

"Mary Poppins eat your heart out." She commented with a shake of her head. "I don't drink." Jess looked confused.

"You…what? You don't _drink?_ Why?"

"Clouds your judgement, slows reactions, dulls your senses, ruins your liver…" Quinn began listing reasons, "And I'm just warning you now, the last time someone tried to force me to drink alcohol I _accidentally_ broke his wrist." Her gaze was sharp. "Though he did most of the work."

"Damn it Quinn, are you like allergic to fun?" Jess shook her head.

"If you don't want to you don't have to…" Sam said, "But drinking a little won't damage your liver, and you hardly need your wits about you if you're with all of us! Like I said though, totally up to you." Quinn considered what the blonde had said for a moment.

"I'll tell you what, I'll pre-drink with you if you tell me what you're dragging me back to at the Washington's." She looked between the elder girls slyly, "You don't have to tell me _everything_ just give me some idea of what I'll be walking into."

"Damn girl…" Jess clicked her tongue, "Okay, I'll play." She pulled some shot glasses from her bag and started filling them, she handed one to Quinn who sniffed the clear liquid distastefully. "Josh is throwing you a party, there'll be people, music and dancing…and drinking." She started meaningfully at the glass in Quinn's hand, and the brunette reluctantly drank the shot; immediately she started spluttering.

"Why would you drink this voluntarily?" She demanded, "It tastes like paint stripper!" She shivered and ignored the smirks she was being given, "Ugh, I hate parties." Not that she had been to many; however the very idea of being surrounded by masses of drunken strangers set her teeth on edge, "But…since he's throwing it for me I'll go along with it." Quinn heaved another sigh. Jess and Sam exchanged a smile, but said nothing about how easily the usually-stubborn hunter caved. "It's only for one night right?" Sam nodded, "Then do your stuff." She shrugged and allowed the two to get to work making her party-ready.

Not having any female friends before in her life, Quinn had never truly realised the effort and stages girls went through when 'getting ready'; so many beauty products that she didn't have the faintest idea how to use. Luckily, Jess and Sam did, Jess got to work on applying makeup while Sam began curling her hair; the fact Jess had a foundation shade dark enough to match her skin confused her at first until Jess informed her it was for 'when she got a tan'. "You have nice skin." Jess grunted at her as she attacked her face with a stippling brush, "I won't even need much of this."

"Wow, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Quinn placed a hand on her chest, "It's making me all teary eyed."

"Just wait till I start on your eye liner." Jess replied airily; Quinn blanched.

Once hair and make-up was done Jess went through Sam's wardrobe to try and find something that Quinn could wear, because in her own words 'There is no way in Hell I'm turning up to a party with a girl in cargo pants and a turtle-neck.' "You know, I have clothes back at the house." Quinn sighed in frustration, "If you'd have let me grab something before dragging me out I could wear my own clothes."

"We didn't want to give you any clues." Sam shrugged, "It never occurred to either of us that you didn't drink and would use it as a bargaining chip." She pulled out a slim fitting dark purple mini dress and held it against Quinn, "Jess?"

"It's good…but she's so short she'd need some killer heels."

"Killer heels, killer heels…" Sam got on her knees and looked through the bottom of her wardrobe, "Quinn what size are you?"

"4.5…uh, a UK 4.5 that is, I have no idea what size I am in US sizing."

"I'm pretty sure that's a 5.5…well these are a 6, but they're heels so you should be able to get away with it being slightly bigger." Jess took the shoes Sam was holding up and examined them.

"Perfect!" She smiled brightly.

"Cinderella you shall go to the ball." Sam grinned; Quinn eyed the outfit cautiously and downed another shot of vodka. "Don't drink too much or we'll be carrying you there."

"Tonight will certainly be…interesting." Quinn tugged at the velvet dress and sighed.

"It'll be a night to remember." Sam wrapped and arm around Quinn's shoulders and squeezed her excitedly.

"Yeah, to _remember._ " Jess plucked the shot glass from Quinn's grasp and placed it on Sam's drawers, "So how about we lay off the vodka for a while hmm, drinky smurf?" She raised an eyebrow and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who gave me this crap in the first place!" Glancing at the clock Quinn noticed it was already 3, 4 more hours and she'd be at the party _and_ she'd be reunited with Josh…in a skimpy dress and heels. Feeling incredibly nervous she tried to take her mind off things by getting changed and listening intently to the chatter of the other two girls as they got themselves ready.

"Damn Quinn you look good." Jess complimented her once she had changed, Quinn eyed her reflection apprehensively, "Josh is going to appreciate all our hard work today."

Suddenly her mouth went oddly dry as she thought about what his reaction might be when he saw her, "God dammit, give me a wendigo over this rom-com shit any day."


	18. Par-tay (Part 2)

**A/N: Wow this one really got away from me didn't it? This chapter is extra long, I didn't really know when to stop writing. I'm not entirely happy with the ending point as it is but I couldn't delay it much longer...the next chapter should be the last; I've had a blast folks! Thank you for all the new follows and favs, it always makes my day! Quite a few POV changes in this but it should be gravy; once again I think I got most of the spelling/grammatical errors but I do most of my writing a ridiculous times at night so I can't be certain.**

 **Ivory Tears: Thanks! I do try and keep everyone in character as much as possible, since we don't see much of 'normal' Josh he's fairly easy to work with along side Quinn. I imagine IRL she'd be rather unpleasant though...but together they're fine ;)**

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

The pounding music emanating from the Washington's house could be heard well before the house itself could be seen; it was lucky they didn't have any close neighbours. Sam was very glad they were there; the fresh air had not aided Quinn's already partially drunk state at all, in fact if anything it only appeared to have made her worse. She kept her arm laced through Quinn's to stop her tripping over her own feet as they headed up the driveway, while Jess floated off to the side on her phone – Sam presumed it was Mike on the other end judging from the amount of giggling and hair twirling that was going on. Well, she certainly _hoped_ it was Mike. "Are you gonna be alright?" She asked Quinn, concerned for the alcohol-virgins first proper night out on the ol' razzle dazzle.

"Oh you betcha." She nodded unconvincingly. "Once I get inside and on the dance floor I will tear shit _up!_ " As much as Sam would have liked to see her friend 'tear shit up', she was more worried she wouldn't be able to stand without help, never mind dance. The door opened before the three of them had knocked and Chris stood on the other end to greet them, a beer in one hand and a broad smile on his face.

"Ladies! Welcome to casa de Washington!"

"You make it sound like we've never been here before." Sam shook her head and brushed past him as he moved to the side; there were people _everywhere_. "Wow…Josh really went all out with the invitations didn't he?" She raised an eyebrow, some of the faces were familiar but many of them weren't. Who would have guessed he still had so many bridges intact after the events of the past year.

"Yeah well, you know Josh; go big or go home…hey is Quinn okay?" Chris noticed the brunette clinging to Sam's arm with a distant look on her face.

"Ah, I hope so…you see Quinn doesn't exactly drink…"

"And now she does." Jess interjected with a broad smile, "She'll be fine, get her on the dance floor so she can 'tear shit up'!" She laughed, "Mike!" Jess spied her boyfriend lounging nearby and eagerly made her way over to him. Chris glanced at Quinn again; she was squinting at their surroundings as if she was trying to piece together where she was.

"Quinn, you feeling okay?" He asked her carefully. Josh would not be happy if she ended up K.O'd at the beginning of the evening.

"Aha!" She suddenly became animated, "I'm home!" She de-laced her arm from Sam's, and swatted away the blonde's attempts to steady her. "Where's Chief hiding?" Her silver-eyed gaze travelled around the room again.

"He's around here somewhere…"

"Quinn, Sam, you made it!" _Speak of the devil…_ Joshua Washington pushed his way through a crowd of disgruntled looking couples and joined them at door. He grinned at them both before squinting at Quinn carefully, "You a little drunk there Quinoa?"

"You bet your ass I am." She nodded firmly, "I said I'd drink if they told me to party." Josh frowned and turned to Sam for clarification; she looked sheepish.

"Quinn doesn't drink, we made a deal and she ended up drinking a little too much." She sighed, "Sorry." Quinn suddenly threw her arm around Sam's shoulders and squished her face with her free hand.

"Don't be sorry Sammy, be _fun_." She advised wisely. Josh rolled his eyes at the pair and proceeded to peel Quinn away from Sam, "Where're you taking me?" Quinn asked suspiciously.

"It's a party, I'm gonna introduce you to other party-related activities."

"Oooo, how mysterious!" She giggled.

Sam watched their retreating backs with worry written all over her face, "Quinn'll be fine with Josh, Sam." Chris reassured her. "She won't get into any trouble…in fact she's a lot nicer than I thought she'd be." Sam couldn't help but smile.

"You thought she'd be a _mean drunk?_ " She teased; Chris put an arm around her shoulders and began leading her towards the festivities.

"Can't tell you all the _nightmares_ I've had about her chasing me round the Washington's kitchen…oh." He stopped, mid-sentence, and Sam looking up at him; he wasn't looking at her. Following his line of sight she saw he was looking out of the window. The look on his face was as surprised as it was confused; Sam then saw what he was looking at, or rather _who_.

"Is that…"

"Ash?"

* * *

The drink was flowing, snacks were placed precariously about the room, there was a sea of faces all around them and music was pounding through speakers that Quinn was almost certain weren't there when she had left the house earlier that day. "Damn so this is a real house party, just like the movies huh?" She commented, observing the unfamiliar adolescents around them talk, dance and flirt. "How did you even do this?" She was mildly impressed.

"Oh you know me." He grinned at her, "I'm capable of just about anything." She shook her head and smiled in disbelief.

"I won't disagree with that." He slung an arm casually around her shoulders.

"Right, since this is your first real par-tay what'd you fancy doing first? Drinking competition? Drinking games? Stuff your face till you throw up?" All at once, every reason she'd ever had for not wanting to ended a party was given a new lease of life.

"Delightful options." She mused.

"Heeeey Josh, great party bro!" A large blond appeared from behind them and threw a burly arm around Josh; his hair had a slight curl to it and he was built like a rugby player.

"Oh hey Nate, glad you're having a good time man." Josh smiled at Nate, whose gaze fell on Quinn. "This is Quinn; she's a…good friend." Quinn snorted a little.

"Yeah, I'm a cracking friend." She agreed, "Nice to meet you." She grunted offhandedly.

"You're English?" Nate enquired in interest.

"I am? Well shit, I never noticed!" She replied in mock horror, "Any crisps about? Pringles maybe?...oh do _not_ give me that look, you know what I mean!" She grumbled and wandered off to the side in search of nibbles.

"Good friend huh? Maybe she can be my _very_ good friend." Nate chuckled as he watched her find the bowl of food she had been searching for, "She's hot, small and drunk – my type." He sent Josh a boyish grin; Josh responded with a grimace. So the night he'd planned might not go as smoothly as he'd thought.

* * *

Chris stood with his arms folded across his chest, staring down at Ash as she tugged at the sleeves of her sweater, visibly uncomfortable. He'd gone outside to see her and talk, but so far not a lot of talking had taken place; she outright refused to make eye contact with him, and he didn't feel like it was his place to initiate conversation. After all, she was the one who had turned up uninvited.

…

…

The silence was unbearable.

Running a hand through his hair, he heaved a sigh, "Well it's been great talking to you Ash, I'll be heading back inside now." He spun on his heel to walk away.

"Wait, Chris!" _Now_ she talked. "I…I came here to say I'm sorry." He turned back round to face her; she was looking directly at him now. The first question that sprung to mind was exactly _which_ of the many issues she'd caused for him was she sorry for, but he bit back the retort and waited for her to carry on. "I'm sorry about the crazy 1am phone calls, the texts; the…ultimatum." She chewed on her bottom lip. "I really didn't mean to turn so psycho on you…I just really freaked out after everything that happened."

"I…see." He furrowed his brows at her, "So…now what? Why the change of heart?"

"Now…I just want to forget it all, like _actually_ forget it all. Everyone else has moved on and I feel like I'm going even crazier stuck in limbo by myself!" In a brazen move, she leaned forwards and grabbed his hand. "And I miss you Chris." And there it was; the old familiar feeling Ash had once stirred within him began creeping up on him again.

"You, oh, er, miss me?"

" _Of course I do._ " She offered him a small smile, a smile he returned.

"What about Josh?" Her smile disappeared.

"Look, I'm not gonna lie and say I'm okay with what he did to us Chris, because I'm not and I never will be, but I…can move past it, with time." She shrugged slightly, "I'm here aren't I?" Chris squinted at her in confusion, failing to understand what she meant. "Josh invited me…didn't he tell you?"

Chris grit his teeth, "No, he did not." Josh had some answering to do.

* * *

Josh watched in dismay and mounting annoyance, and Nate circled Quinn like a vulture round a dying animal. It was sort of his fault, he supposed, he had introduced her as a 'good friend'…and of course other guys were going to find her attractive, after all he did so why wouldn't they? His browns furrowed as Nate finally made his move and actually started talking to her, Quinn turned to the much larger male with a scowl on her face and a mouth full of chips; Josh nearly laughed. Nearly. "Dammit…" He was so absorbed in spying on them that he didn't notice Chris storming over to him.

"Hey there _buddy_." Chris placed his hand just a little _too_ firmly on Josh's shoulder, "Care to tell me why Ash is here? And more importantly: _why you didn't tell me?_ " He hissed; Josh's eyes widened in surprise before he gave Chris an easy smile.

"Oh yeah, totally forgot about that." He admitted, sheepishly.

"You _forgot_?!"

"My bad." Josh shrugged, "You spoken to her?" Chris folded his arms huffily.

"Yes."

"And how did that go…?"

"It…went surprisingly well, actually." Chris backed up a little, realising the outcome of the conversation had been good and not bad. "She uh, apologised and said she wants to move on past it, I guess we're good again."

"Sweet, so…why exactly did you storm over here and berate me?" Josh smirked a little and Chris scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well…a little heads-up would have been nice." He mumbled, "Oh shit I left her outside!" Chris spun, and saw an exasperated looking Ash entering the house and looking around for him; upon spotting Josh by his side she paused and gave them both an awkward wave. Chris smiled and beckoned her over.

"I can leave you two alone if you like…" Josh murmured to his friend. "Hey Ash, I'm glad you could make it."

"Hi…Josh." She stopped in front of them both; Josh noted she was tugging on the ends of her sleeves nervously and he was fairly certain it was due to his presence. But hell, it was his house.

The three stood in silence for a few seconds, before Chris cleared his throat. "Josh where's Quinn?" Looking around the room they all saw that Quinn was nowhere to be found; neither was Nate. "She was here when I walked in…" Chris glanced at Josh and saw his friend's eyes darting around the room; he swore under his breath.

"Nate's taken her somewhere." Josh began walking off; Chris exchanged a quick look with Ash and they both hurried after him.

"Nate...Miller? From college?"

"Yes."

Ash grabbed Chris' sleeve to get his attention, "Isn't Quinn the girl who took you all to save Josh?" The blond nodded, "She's still here?"

"Yeah it's a bit of a long story…this party was kinda her leaving party…" He leaned in a little closer to Ash, ignoring – but thoroughly enjoying – the flush across her face as he did so, "Josh is pretty keen on her, and we all think she likes him too…" He furrowed his brows, "She was pissed though, so her being dragged away by _Nate Miller_ probably doesn't bode well."

"She seemed like the sort who could fend for herself." Ash mumbled.

"She can." Chris agreed, "But that doesn't mean we should leave her to." He gave Ash a pointed look and she looked away; he sighed. "C'mon, before we lose sight of the talented Mr Washington and he does something stupid." Chris took her hand in his and gently pulled her along so they could catch up to a frazzled Josh.

* * *

Dipping her Dorito in the chive dip, Quinn celebrated the fact she'd found the crisps; truth be told she was actually rather hungry after her day of drinking and preening. She tried to ignore the large figure of Nate who seemed to have followed her over; he didn't actually say anything but she could feel him watching her. "So er, are you on holiday here or something?" She paused in her Dorito onslaught.

"Do you want something?" She growled, finally turning his way.

The tall, fair haired man held his hands up in surrender, "Kinda waspish aren't you?" He joked as she continued eating Doritos.

"Yeah well…I'd blame the vodka but I'm pretty much always like this." She shrugged, "Dammit Chief, are crisps the only food you put out?"

"There's some pizza in the kitchen…I can show you the way if you want?" Nate shot her a charming smile that she waved off.

"S'cool, I've been living here over a month I know where the kitchen is." She then set off in search of a more delicious snack, much to her annoyance Nate decided to follow her. "Are you stalking me?" She eyed him suspiciously as they manoeuvred through the throng of people in the hall.

"I'm just being friendly!" He protested, "You're really not a people person are you?"

"Not at all."

"Surprised you get along with Washington then, he's a pretty sociable guy – or he used to be at least, before…well, y'know." Nate shrugged a little and Quinn slowed down a little to walk _with_ him rather than hurrying away, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Have you known him a while?" She asked.

"High school and college yeah, I know the whole lot of 'em." He smiled down at her, "We were never best friends or anything but we always got along well enough." Quinn frowned thoughtfully; all she knew was the Josh _now_ , the post-trauma Josh…she would have liked to have known him before everything happened. Though there was a slim chance they'd have got on, she was well aware she wasn't the easiest to get along with – she'd only become such good friends with them all out of sheer necessity; with Stuart gone she'd had no one else. It was so strange to think they'd probably all been up at Blackwood Pines at the same time at some point, yet never met before… "Earth to Quinn?" Nate's voice snapped her from her thoughts.

"You say somethin'?"

"Yeah…we're in the kitchen?" Looking around, Quinn saw that they were indeed in the Washington's kitchen.

"Oh…so we are." The kitchen was oddly deserted, bar a couple all over each other in the middle of the room, "Hey, hey, off the countertop!" Quinn barked as she strode in, startling them both as they hastily scrambled apart, "I have to eat off that in the morning." Squinting, she realised she vaguely recognised the couple.

"My God, a bit of privacy would be nice." The girl, who was currently pulling up her bra straps, retorted.

"You're in the fucking kitchen; you want privacy? I recommend one of the several spare rooms upstairs." Quinn drawled, walking past them and to the pizza box that they'd narrowly managed to avoid whilst pawing at each other. "Aha, you're Emily!" She finally managed to put a face to the name, "And you're…Matt?" She tilted her head as she looked at the unsure male as he put his jacket on.

"You're that English girl from before…" Emily examined her carefully and nodded to herself, a smirk playing around her lips, "You clean up well don't you? C'mon Matt." She took Matt's hand and pulled him out of the kitchen, he managed to give her an apologetic smile before he was fully dragged off by Emily.

"I still don't like her." Quinn declared with narrowed eyes. "Fuck it." She shrugged and helped herself to the pizza.

"Nice to see a girl with a healthy appetite." Once again, Nate sidled up to her as she ate. She was started to regret leaving Josh to search for food, maybe if she'd stay with him she wouldn't now have her own personal shadow following her around. "So where in the UK are you from?"

"Leeds, Yorkshire." She mumbled between bites; upon spying Nate's rather blank expression she sighed and placed the pizza back down, "Northern England, that's why I don't sound stereotypically posh."

"Ah right, right, it's a nice accent." Now she knew he was bullshitting her; the only people who found the Yorkshire accent remotely attractive where other people from Yorkshire. "Nice accent, pretty girl…and here you are cooped up with Washington; he's not keeping you captive is he?" Nate joked; Quinn bristled.

"I enjoy spending time with him." She replied shirtily.

"You do huh?" Nate mused, "Well you're one of the few who does since he went bat-shit, I'm kinda surprised so many people showed up…I was a little worried he'd trap us all in here and pull out his psycho-suit." He chuckled to himself, ignoring Quinn's gradually narrowing eyes. Nate slung his arm around her shoulders in the same casual way Josh had earlier.

"What're you doing?" She demanded.

"I told you…just being friendly…" He squeezed her shoulders slightly, _reassuringly._

"Mhmm, I'm gonna go find Josh and the others." Quinn attempted to shimmy from his grasp, and succeeded, only to have him reach forward and grab her wrist as she tried to leave. "Hey!"

"Oh come _on,_ no need to be such a stone-cold bitch." Nate was no longer smiling, in fact he looked rather peeved. "What's so special about nut-job Joshua?"

"What the fuck is going on?!" Quinn barely registered her friends gathered in the doorway; she growled and twisted Nate's arm round so he let go of her. She then kept twisting till he fell to his knees in pain, and held his arm behind his back with a steadfast grip.

"I happen to _like_ that nut-job, you absolute cockwomble." She hissed, "Do one." She released his arm and stormed off, finally taking in a rather startled looking Josh, Chris and Ash. "C'mon Chief I wanna dance." Quinn took his arm and dragged him away from the kitchen.

"W-wha- oh okay!"

Chris and Ash lingered in the doorway a little longer, Chris sniggered at Nate as he cradled his arm, "I knew she was a mean drunk…" Nate looked up in annoyance.

"You say something?"

"Yeah, you're a real asshat." He replied bluntly. "Let's go join them on the dance floor." Chris grinned at Ash and together they made their way back to the front room; Quinn and Josh were easily spottable amongst the crowd, dancing beside a more _energetic_ Mike and Jess. Josh had his arms around her shoulders and a smug look on his face, Quinn had hers around his middle and had a rather sour look on hers. Evidently she was still angry with Nate.

"Well then…care to dance mi'lady?" Chris flourished a bow and held his hand out to Ash.

"What a goof." She laughed, but took it anyway.

"Yeah, I am." Chris admitted, "But you _missed me_ so I must be doing something right."

The rest of the evening went considerably smoother after that.

* * *

It was stupid o'clock in the morning, the sun was just about rising over the trees, and Quinn and Josh were laid out on the grass in the backyard. Everyone had just about left and the two were exhausted, but determined to stay awake for as long as possible. "Thanks for throwing me the party Chief." She yawned.

"No problem Quinoa, parties used to be a Washington speciality." He grinned, but they both kept their eyes fixed on the trees, waiting for the sun to come up. His hand sought out hers on the cool grass and he laced their fingers together. For once she didn't bother to question the action, she just accepted it, and the warm feeling that spread through her because of it. "You say you saw Em and Matt all over each other in the kitchen?"

"Yepp." She popped the p's, "She told me I 'cleaned up well'." Quinn snorted.

"Can't argue with that, I nearly dropped dead at the sight of you not wearing combat pants and a vest." Quinn chuckled a little.

"You can thank Jess for that." The Washington's garden was peaceful; back in Leeds she only had a flat, no garden to speak of. "I've honestly never looked forward to going home less." She sighed to herself, closing her eyes and letting the waves of fatigue wash over her. "I'm so tired." She groaned.

"We could go to bed…if you think you can make it back inside and up all those stairs."

"You're mad if you think I'm moving anywhere." From beside her she heard him laugh.

"Then we'll just have to stay out here a little longer."

"Yeah, I guess we will…" She tightened her grip around his hand and tried not to think about the fact that in less than 48 hours she'd be travelling alone, back to her home. A home that was no longer a home for her, given she had nothing there; sure she had _things_ , but things don't make a real home.

"Sun should be up any second now." Josh's voice was quiet as he spoke; sure enough a minute or too later Quinn felt the warmth and light hit her face. They stayed there like that hand in hand on the grass, until they both eventually drifted off into a heavy, heavy sleep.


End file.
